Keith McALLISTER
This abstract addresses the issues with the maintenance of the heritage buildings and limited knowledge over the years has resulted in the deterioration of the stone buildings, this has been addressed by the Central Darling Shire Council with the introduction of the Heritage Advisory Service and a Stone Conservation Program.
A National Award Winning Company Heritage Stone Restorations from Adelaide has undertaken restoring the small scale projects, with the intention to teach locals about the importance of maintaining their buildings with the correct conservation materials used.
Wilcannia was first settled by pastoralists in the 1840s, yet it was not until 1866 when the township was proclaimed. In 1868 the population was 150 and a number of important buildings had been erected.
Wilcannia became Australia’s third largest inland port, the height of wealth was reached in the 1870s when the population grew to 3,000 as Wilcannia became a coaching centre for the prospectors exploiting the regions gold,copper silver and opal resources. The prosperity of this time soon declined with a number of dry years from 1900, with the river dropping considerable.