The village of Carcoar in the Central Tablelands of NSW was first surveyed in 1838 and gazetted in 1839 at the request of Sir Thomas Icely who had a large holding called Coombing Park and Stoke. He envisaged that it would be a centre to supply services and law and order - something which the new settlement sorely needed. It is hard to imagine now, but Carcoar has a real "Wild West" history and the Court House and Police Station used to be very busy.
For instance, in 1863 John O'Meally and Johnny Gilbert, members of Ben Hall's bushranging gang, attempted Australia's first daylight bank robbery in Carcoar. Casually fronting the teller of the old Commercial Bank Gilbert demanded all of the money in the bank. But the clerk produced a pistol and took a shot at them and the pair fled.
On a separate occasion Hall held up the local Presbyterian minister, James Adam (also known as the Apostle of the Saddle), but decided not to rob him because he seemed such a nice bloke. In another famous case gang member John Vane stole a famous racehorse called Comus II from Icely's stables while a police superintendent was there as a guest. Fearing for his safety Icely left his eldest son in charge of the property and went back to Sydney, never to return to Carcoar.
But the worst crime at Carcoar was undoubtedly the axe murder in September 1893 of City Bank manager John Phillips and a young female friend of his wife, Frances Cavanagh, by the son of one of the wealthiest pastoralists in the district.
The 25 year old Herbert (Bertie) Glasson broke into the bank late at night, waking Phillips, his wife and Cavanagh who was staying as a guest. Phillips went to collect his loaded pistol and went to investigate but was attacked with the axe and died. Cavanagh had got out of bed to see what was happening but she too was killed with the axe. The Carcoar community didn't recover from the shame of these gruesome murders for many years.
As the first settlement beyond Bathurst, it seemed that Carcoar was destined to become a major economic centre. Initially, its main income base was agriculture, but minerals including iron ore, cobalt and copper soon began to add to the wealth of the district. Gold was discovered nearby in the 1850s and businesses in Carcoar were established to cater for the population increase. Government followed with the establishment of many fine imposing administrative buildings. Cobb & Co. also established its agricultural headquarters at Coombing Park and during the era of horse drawn travel Carcoar became a convenient overnight stay - equidistant from Bathurst, Orange and Cowra.
However the town's fortunes began to decline in the 1880s when the main railway bypassed Carcoar in favour of Blayney. When the railway finally reached Carcoar in 1888 it was only a branch line, and other towns such as Blayney and Orange had already overtaken it.
Today, even the Mid Western Highway bypasses the town and Carcoar has become a quiet village with much to offer tourists who are interested in Australian history.
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