Data was last added to this page on the 18 May 2023
CHINESE TEMPLE / JOSS HOUSE
(Information to be added when found)
Chinese Temple / Joss House located on Section 1 Mudgee Road
The Gully in the forefront of the image crossed Mudgee Road from
the east and entered Tambaroora Creek at the western extremity of Chinatown.
Image Courtesy of the State Library of NSW
Location: Lot 3 Section 1 as seen on the 1892 Map (006)
The date of the Chinese Temples presence in Tambaroora is not known but would have been built not long after the arrival of the first Chinese miners in 1856. Located in the northern portion of the town occupying Lots 3 and 4 of Section 1 it would have been a prominent structure looking north along Mudgee Road. To a visitor travelling north along Mudgee Road thru the Town it would have been very distinguishable from the other drab slab and bark buildings. The colourful signs adorning the front of the building and entry doors would have been hard to miss when passing by. It also was the beginning of Chinatown situated on the northern part of the Town and extending north along Tambaroora Creek and the lower south east part of Red Hill.
Sadly the site of this Temple/Joss House was hydraulically sluiced in the 1930s by Hill End Alluvial's Proprietary Ltd, a subsidiary company of Oriomo Explorations Ltd and all traces of the Temple/Joss Houses existence has been destroyed as was the fate of the entire Chinatown itself.
An article in the Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser in 1874 written by a travelling reporter noted that a new
Joss House
had recently been erected overlooking Chinatown. The Hill End and Tambaroora Register of Houses and Land (512) notes that on the 2nd April 1874 George Ah Chung (Ching or Chong) registered for a ¼ acre Lot on Red Hill Tambaroora for a Chinese Church(sic).
20 Aug 1874 - New Chinese Joss House Opened
The location of this Joss House is now known, but until a archaeological survey can be undertaken no further information will be included.
To be Continued