Discovery trail
The towns that moved
A new address for an entire community
Dams and an expanding mine required whole communities to start again elsewhere. Compare what moved, what was left behind and how a new site changed each town’s future. These are thematic stops, not a continuous historical route.
THE STOPS
AdaminabyA pastoral supply town stood in the path of Lake Eucumbene. Buildings were moved to the replacement town in 1957; the old site became part of the Snowy Scheme reservoir.
JindabyneA crossing on the Snowy River came first. The new town opened above the reservoir in the 1960s, and its lakeside location and access to the ski fields gave it a new visitor economy.
TalbingoAn inn, post office and pastoral settlement preceded the hydro scheme. The original township was flooded by Jounama Pondage in 1968; a replacement on higher ground served the scheme.
Leigh CreekCoal supplied South Australia’s power stations, but the growing mine needed the original town site. A replacement town was built farther south; the mine’s closure in 2015 changed its reason for being.