Place:Rous Mill, New South Wales, Australia

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NameRous Mill
TypeTown
Coordinates28.87849°S 153.38058°E
Located inNew South Wales, Australia

Rous Mill is a small community situated 10 miles south-east of Lismore. In the latter part of the last century it was a thriving town centred around Mr. Alfred Bennett's sugar mill from which it derived the name. Of the butcher's shops, saddlery, police station, hotels, grocers, School of Arts, timber mill, butter factory and Temperance Hall, only a few remain in use.

Most have disappeared leaving only the foundations such as those of the butcher's shop, police station and the mill itself.

Practically all of the country as it was cleared was planted with sugar cane. These fields extended as far as Alstonville and the tracks where the old railway line ran, can still be seen.

Supplies were carted by bullock drays from either Ballina or Wardell. Raw sugar provided the back loading.

With the change from sugar growing on the hills to the river flats the mill was forced to close. Such good quality cane was grown here that the Rous mill was the last of the "Hill" mills to close.

With the closing of the mill farmers turned more to dairying, which is still the main industry in this district today.

One small hydro-electric power plant on Youngman's Creek provided power for the cheese factory owned by the Fredericksen family. This operated until the early forties.

Today, besides dairying and pig raising, peanuts, pineapples, bananas and small crops are grown. These are channeled to the various markets by organisations in Lismore.

Source >>> http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~hcastle/transcripts/kathy_pearson/transcripts/rousmill.html