Sofala was the first goldfield’s town.
It sprang up around the diggings on the Turon River soon after these stood up to surpass Ophir as THE big name goldfield of 1851.
With the highest concentration of any mining community on the new NSW field’s Sofala quickly became the voice of the goldfields as opposition grew to the early licence system and government goldfield regulations.
As with most of the early alluvial fields, the Turon’s star dimmed quickly when the easily won gold gave out and miners drifted away in search of the “next big thing”.
The field however survived, thanks in part to the role that Sofala had early on established as a service centre to the surrounding fields extending northwards towards Mudgee. Over time also, interest turned to quartz mining operations focussed on the gold bearing reefs that could clearly been seen outcropping on the hilsides across the district.
