New Lives for Old
Moss Vale’s Then
and Now Historic Buildings Walking Tour
Moss Vale is 150 years old in 2013 and full of surprises, among
them the vibrant contemporary life given to its historic buildings.
This do-it-yourself tour
will take you, in no more than an hour, to some of the best.
Although the tour starts from Moss Vale
Railway Station and moves in a clockwise direction, it may be joined at any
point along the way.
Leaving Moss Vale Railway Station, take the overbridge and ramp
towards Argyle Street. In front is the 1897 Queen Victoria fountain and immediately
to the left is the Post and Telegraph
Office of 1890, now a busy cafe, Thai restaurant and offices.
 |
| Post and Telegraph Office (1890) |
Go down Argyle Street, noting on the
left the Court House (more
later), cross at the traffic lights and continue towards the railway overbridge.
On the left is Throsby Street, named after the pioneering landholder Charles
Throsby. Take this street to the top of the rise where the classically inspired
Old Town Hall is found. Dated
1890 and bearing the name of N H Throsby, Mayor, this fine two story building
has a fresh lease of life as stylish residential apartments.
 |
| Old Town Hall (1890) |
Return to Argyle Street, pass left
around Whyte’s Store (established 1895 and still going strong), continue under
the railway bridge and walk along the shopping area to the Southern Highlands
Veterinary Centre. Part of this practice housed another earlier edition of the Post and Telegraph Office, whose
history is chequered, having existed on various sites including the railway
station, since December, 1867.
 |
| CBC Bank (1874) |
Immediately uphill is the former CBC Bank of 1874, a creatively
accomplished and significant example from the respected Mansfield bank
architectural firm.
The structure is largely unaltered and is home to a
professional office suite.
Cross Argyle Street and on the top
corner is the Jemmy Moss Inn.
Originating on another site in 1868 as the Carrier’s Rest Inn, it came to its
present position in 1873 as the Commercial Hotel and did duty as the Court House and lockup for a few years
after 1878. From 1966 it was known under its present name, commemorating Jemmy
Moss the loyal herdsman of the founding Throsby family, after whom the town of
Moss Vale is named.
On the opposite, lower, corner is Argyle
House. Now professional rooms, it was designed as an inn in 1878 but was never
licensed, there being four other hotels in the town. In 1887 the building began
life as the E S & A Bank (English,
Scottish and Australian).
 |
| Argyle House (1878) |
Walk back down Argyle Street and on the
left is the School of Arts built
in 1891. It is now thriving in modern usage as a professional suite.
 |
| School of Arts (1891) |
Following shortly is the entrance to St
Paul’s International College, once known as Elm Court (1874), the home of the entrepreneurial Hon Alexander
Campbell MLC.
Further on, at the corner of Lackey Road
(after Hon John Lackey MLA), is the Central Hotel, once the Tattersall’s Hotel, built in 1878
and recorded as one of the main town buildings in 1884.
Continue under the railway bridge and
along Argyle Street. Although there is nothing to see now (due to demolition in
1914-15 to make way for railway expansion), on the north western corner of
Leighton Gardens stood the 1880 Police Station. It also contained the Court
House before that much-relocated building moved on to other sites in its
long journey to its present 1923 position.
Mentioning the railway brings us back to
the starting point of the tour and what is possibly the most significant
development in Moss Vale’s history – the routing of the Great Southern Railway
through the town and the opening of the Railway
Station in 1867.
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| Moss Vale Railway Station - historic refreshment rooms |
Moss Vale railway station, originally named Sutton Forest, evolved between 1867 and 1932 into an
extensive complex, branch line terminus and freight hub. It is the major station on
the line from Sydney to Goulburn and once featured traditionally formal refreshment rooms .
Most remarkable is the
Governor’s Suite (regrettably repurposed and unavailable to view), found
nowhere else in NSW, which served the needs of many early state Governors
holidaying in the refreshing Southern Highlands.
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