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Welcome to the Araluen Valley History website

This website has been set up to preserve and make publicly available the history of the Araluen Valley, originally the home of a small group of the Walbunga people of the Yuin nation called the Arralyin. In the second half of the 1800s, the Valley was the site of the richest alluvial gold deposits in NSW and home to thousands of miners and their families.

Looking around the Valley today, it’s hard to see much evidence of what happened during that period, but in contrast it’s amazing just how much has actually survived. This is evident through the various personal stories, photos, records and precious collectables held by many of the families who previously, and currently live in the valley.

As generations pass, this website offers a place to conserve and record times past so that new generations can get a sense of what life was like in the Valley in those early days, as well as who lived here and what they did. The website includes a collection of historical maps, topical information and photos.

Key sites around the Valley are marked by signs to form the Araluen History Trail’. Each sign includes a QR code providing a direct link to this website for more detailed information covering a variety of topics, such as a timeline of key events, information about the various townships/villages that made up the Valley,  gold mining and bushrangers, agriculture, World Wars I and II, as well as the people, their daily lives, work and social life.

The creation of the Araluen Valley History website and history trail is made possible with the generous support of grant funding from the Australian Government Black Summer Bushfire Recovery Grants Program, support from the Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council (QPRC), and the significant research input from our volunteers and longstanding residents.

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