Rylstone is a small town in New South Wales

Rylstone is a small town in New South Wales, Australia, in the Central Tablelands. It is located on the Bylong Valley Way road route. At the 2016 census, Rylstone had a population of almost 650 people.

The name ‘Rylstone’ has no clear origin; however, several possible origins are promoted.

Michael Hayes who built the Shamrock Hotel and other buildings at The Junction (where the Cudgegong River and Tong Bong Creek meet) claims responsibility. On travelling through the area he mentioned sleeping on ‘that Ryle Stone’ his Irish accent converting what was actually said ‘Royal Stone’
A small village also known as Rylstonein Yorkshire England is near to where wool was sent from properties in the Rylstone area.
Another tale suggests the Scots had a weapon called a Ryle Stone. This weapon being used when the Scots were at war with the Picts (England) and Scottish shepherds built their huts at the location of the current village of Rylstone.

A petition was sent to Governor Gipps asking for a village to be called Tong Bong to be established at the present site of Rylstone. Governor Gipps granted permission for the village to be surveyed but he insisted that the village be called Rylstone and not Tong Bong. There is no evidence of any connection between Governor Gipps and the English village of Rylstone.

Rylstone, a small town in New South Wales: Exploration

Several early explorers and settler explorers travelled this area in the early 1800s; they include Samuel Marsden, Macquarie, Edward Cox, James Blackman Jr., Jamison, FitzGerald, John Nevell and James Vincent. Several mountains in the area commemorate their journeys through the Glen Alice Valley and up the Turon River. James Blackman jnr. explored a route from Bathurst to the Cudgegong River and present site of Rylstone in 1820. Allan Cunningham, the botanist and explorer, on his first expedition to find a route from Bathurst to the Liverpool Plains noted in his diary in November 1822 being in the Tabrabucka area and on the second expedition 18 April 1823 passing through Dabee (now Rylstone).

The district was originally known as Dabee (under various spellings). There are many contemporary newspaper references to the town being referred to as Ryalston in the period 1846 to mid-1850s[6] then referred to as Ryalstone during the late 1850s. Rylstone town was laid out in 1846 by surveyor Davidson. By the 1850s Rylstone was becoming a well established town with post office, hotels, school, mills, and police lock-up. The Rylstone district was declared as a police district in 1854. Rylstone was formally proclaimed a town on 20 March 1885.

On 9 June 1884 the railway was opened to Rylstone, this changed the status of Rylstone village to that of a town. The railway yard included a goods shed, trucking yards, and turntable. Notably, Henry Lawson’s father, Niels Hertzberg Larsen, helped build the timber railway station. The line was extended from Rylstone to Mudgee and this section was opened on 10 September 1884. Rylstone is located on the Wallerawang to Gwabegar branch line.

In April 1895 a railway telephone line was installed between Wallerawang and Mudgee with Rylstone as an intermediate telephone point. The telephone was an important safety feature on this railway due to the steep cliffs and tunnels that occur on both sides of Rylstone allowing quick and clear communication of problems.

The railway line through Rylstone was closed on 2 March 1992 and remain closed for 8 years, the NSW Government spent $11 million to resleeper the track, repair bridges, and level crossings reopening the line on 2 September 2000, the line was again closed 7 years later on 30 June 2007, the line remains closed; however, there are plans to reopen the line for coal trains to operate between Cobbora Mine (near Dunedoo) and the Mount Piper Power Station and Wallerawang Power Station.

The main commercial street, Louee Street, was originally an upper level and lower level street. In the 1930s the street was levelled and this created the high steps to the buildings on the high side of the road.

Other events in Rylstone history…

1849 – Post Office opened on 1 January 1849.
1853 – Wesleyan Chapel opened on Sunday 15 May 1853
1857 – laying of foundation stone for new church, St James Rylstone on 19 May 1857
1857 – The School opened in July 1857.
1875 – Rylstone and district population was approximately 300 persons
1880 – Telegraph Office was built and the Post Office relocated to this building
1894 – Gold discovered in Rylstone area, gold showing freely through reef, a gold rush results, 21 August 1894
1897 – A 70 oz gold nugget was found between Stony Pinch and Appletree Flat
1899 – Rylstone and other nearby towns promote themselves as a suitable site for the new Federal Capital
1903 – Coal was discovered for the first time by New Zealand mining company at Coomber (5 miles south of Rylstone)
1906 – A telephone line was opened between Rylstone and Mudgee, 1 February 1906
1907 – Iron and Steel manufacturing works proposed for Rylstone
1914 – A 50 line telephone switchboard was opened at Rylstone on 28 October
1915 – in April 1915 a new telephone line was constructed between Rylstone and Bylong
1915 – Tenders accepted for construction of a new hospital at Rylstone, ₤1723, 27 April 1915
1924 – A new direct telephone trunk line was built from Lithgow to Rylstone and on to Mudgee, prior to this date all calls to Sydney were connected via Switchboards at Rylstone, Mudgee, Bathurst then Sydney
1925 – The Rylstone school is destroyed by fire during school hours, no one is hurt, 6 August 1925
1925 – The Standard Portland Cement Company’s Kandos Cement Works are under construction
1926 – An electrification scheme commenced for the towns of Rylstone and Kandos, power being supplied by the Kandos Cement Works, connection switched on in November 1926.
1926 – record rainfall of 1250 points (317mm) falling in a week (rain commencing 25 March 1926), washing out the Tong Bong crossing
1931 – Rich Shale Oil discovery at Rylstone
1935 – Hospital additions, new wing and nurses quarters were opened by Minister for Health on 3 August 1935, costing £1700
1938 – Discussions with NSW Government commenced on provided a water supply scheme for Rylstone.
1954 – A water supply dam was completed and pipes were installed to connect the town to running water
1960s – A sewage system was built and connected to houses and businesses in Rylstone
1981 – Saturday 30 May, the last Mudgee Mailtrain service ran through Rylstone around 4am, heading north to Gwabegar
1983 – The manual telephone switchboardclosed in June, it was located in the Post and Telegraph Office
1992 – 2 March, the railway line from Kandos through Rylstone to Gulgong closed to rail traffic
2000 – 2 September, The railway line from Kandos through Rylstone to Mudgee and Gulgong was reopened to train traffic
2007 – 30 June, The railway line from Kandos to Gulgong was classified as ‘service suspended’ effectively closing the line to trains