Tilba Tilba

Central Tilba

Located on the beautiful rolling slopes of Mount Dromedary, the Tilba region is one of New South Wales' Eurobodalla coast's most popular drawcards. The area was settled over 160 years ago, but the discovery of gold in 1850 saw people flock to the district and the towns of Central Tilba and Tilba Tilba burst into life. As the gold petered out, dairying became firmly established, but the two villages stopped growing, leaving them today as towns frozen in time.

In 1891 Samuel Bate became one of the founders of the ABC Cheese Factory in what was to become Central Tilba. The factory closed in the 1960s with a downturn in the dairy industry but reopened as a result of a tourism boost. It now supplements specialist cheese production with arts and crafts sales.
Bate's General Store was opened there in 1894 (it includes the post office) and, the following year, the township sprung up on land sold by Samuel Bate. Because the town was so rapidly established (all but one of the structures being erected in the 1890s) all of the buildings are homogeneous, all timber, except the cheese factory. Because the town failed to develop after goldmining died in the area it has remained virtually untouched. The one building constructed at a later date was the Methodist Church, also built on land provided by Samuel Bate, in 1907. The entire village is classified by the National Trust as the Central Tilba Conservation Area. The local hotel and general store are particularly evocative of our pioneers days. Television commercials are filmed here, taking advantage of the superb scenery and real set.
Mount Dromedary (Gulaga) was named by Captain Cook in 1770 and is a significant landmark for the southern half of the Eurobodalla Nature Coast. It had great spiritual significance to the Yuin people, whose descendants today still hold the mountain in special reverence. It is also possible to walk the mountain.
Central Tilba is today a magnet for visitors with its working village atmosphere and variety of excellent produce and wares. It is only a single street but there is a beauty about the houses and shops. Stores include a leatherworks, cobbler, bakery, ABC Cheese Factory, wood turner, toy store, lolly shop, galleries, heaps of arts and crafts, a great pub as well as lovely cafes. Nearby Tilba Tilba is much smaller but equally picturesque.

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