NSWMining
Joadja
A company town for turning rock into lamp fuel.
1877Decision to build the refinery
WHAT STARTED IT
Joadja grew around oil shale: rock that could be heated to produce oil for kerosene and other products. Building retorts and a refinery in the valley, rather than sending all the rock to Sydney, created the need for an industrial settlement.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
The refinery decision was made in 1877. Specialist workers, including families recruited from Scotland, lived beside the works. A railway carried products out of the valley. When the industry failed, the town lost its purpose and its buildings gradually became ruins.
TURNING POINTS
1877Plans commit to refining shale oil in the valley.
1878The Australian Kerosene Oil and Mineral Company takes control and refinery construction begins.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
A historic industrial site rather than a functioning company town. Surviving structures reveal the mine, processing works and community that once depended on a single fuel-making business.