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Dalton is a small inland country town in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia in Upper Lachlan Shire.

Dalton New South Wales
Royal Hotel, Dalton
Dalton
Coordinates	34°43′0″S 149°12′0″E
Population	195 (2016 census)[1]
Postcode(s)	2581
Elevation	540 m (1,772 ft)
Location	255 km (158 mi) SW of Sydney 79 km (49 mi) n of Canberra 58 km (36 mi) W of Goulburn 11 km (7 mi) NW of Gunning
LGA(s)	Upper Lachlan Shire
County	King
Parish	Dalton
State electorate(s)	Goulburn
Federal division(s)	Hume
Localities around Dalton: Blakney Creek Biala Merrill Broadway Dalton Merrill Jerrawa Oolong Gunning

Location

Dalton is north of the Hume Highway that joins Sydney and Melbourne, between Goulburn and Yass in southern New South Wales, 255 kilometres (158 mi) southwest of Sydney and 79 kilometres (49 mi) north of the national capital, Canberra. Nearby towns are Cullerin, Gundaroo, Gunning, Yass, and Murrumbateman.

Economy

The Monaro region is renowned for its sheep wool industry, notably for the Merino breed. The dry-land farming supports both summer and winter wheat, and some other cereal crops, but agriculture also extends to cattle production for meat.[2]

The vibrancy of Dalton's heyday in the 19th century as a sheep-shearing centre is gone, lost in 1875[3] when the train line was routed through nearby Gunning[4] rather than Dalton. Today the town is taking on a new role as a rural-residential centre, with generally well-maintained wide streets and churches, a school, a viable hotel (pub), post office services, and a petrol station.

Geology and earthquakes

The underlying rock strata of the region from Dalton to Lake George some 40 kilometres (25 mi) east is geologically active, with the lake formed along a fault system running north–south.[5]

Dalton has a significantly higher rate of earthquakes and tremors than the background rate for the eastern highlands of Australia, and because their foci are very shallow (usually less than 1 km deep) the damage they cause is often disproportionately high: events as low as magnitude ML3.0 have damaged buildings in the region.[6]

Significant earthquakes centred on Dalton/Gunning include an ML5.3 event on 5 July 1888 that was felt in Sydney[7] and represents the first record of seismic activity in the area;[8] the largest recorded event - an ML5.6 event on 18 November 1934 that was also felt in Sydney and agitated the water in the Manuka Pool in Canberra;[9] an ML5.5 event on 10–11 March 1949[10] that caused minor cracking in Canberra buildings[11] and damaged the Anglican Church;[12] and the ML4.3 Oolong event on 9 August 1984 which damaged Oolong Homestead and the Anglican Church.[6]

Several amateur geologists in Dalton and the surrounding region have seismic recorders that automatically send data to Geoscience Australia.^{[citation needed]}

History

The area now known as Dalton lies around the margins of the traditional lands of the Gundungurra people in the north and the Ngunnawal people in the south.[13] These two peoples spoke similar, if not identical, languages.

The town was gazetted in 1862.[14] The name was derived from the family name of the wife[15] of the then Governor of New South Wales The Rt Hon. Sir John Young; her name was Adelaide Annabella Tuite daughter of Edward Tuite Dalton.[16]

Quartz reefs containing gold were discovered in the 1860s but were unprofitable when mining was attempted.[17]

Historical Buildings

Anchor Lodge of Good Templar's Hall built 1890[18][19] and in use until c.1925.[20]

Police Station built 1889[21]

Public School built 1878[22] replacing an earlier school building dating from c.1860.[23]

Royal Hotel built 1860

Wesleyan Chapel[22]

St Matthew's Anglican Church built 1878.[24]

School

Dalton Public School was, in 1878, under the instruction of Mr. J. V. Moore, and held in a building rented for the purpose, which was very inadequate at the time. As the lease of the schoolhouse was soon to expire, and there was small chance of obtaining any other premises, tenders were called for a new building. The number of children on the roll in 1878 was 60, with an average attendance of 45.[22]

Gallery

• 
  Dalton Hall (1923).
• 
  Dalton Methodist church (1923), now Uniting Church in Australia.

References

External links

• Gunning Shire

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