Young is part of Wiradjuri country. It’s 187 years since this rich diverse region was first settled by Europeans.
Young is steeped in history, from the discovery of gold in 1860, the miners who came to try their luck, the bushrangers attracted to easy pickings and the riots that followed as European miners drove 1200 Chinese miners from the diggings. Chinese miners were sheltered by a local landowner, James Robertson, who fed and gave them refuge until the authorities arrived. Follow the story at the Lambing Flat Folk Museum.
Enterprise and ingenuity are embedded in the towns folk’s DNA, contributing to early innovation such as Young being first town in the Empire to switch on electricity to streets and homes. Today, you can still wander down Lighting Lane where those first lights shone.
Local businesses have also flourished. For instance National Engineering developed from coach builder to provider and assembler of the structural steel for the Olympic Games Stadium at Homebush and the structure where the national flag flies over Parliament House in Canberra.