This tour covers around 1.5 km of easy town walking, stepping back through 150 years of extraordinary history.
In the 1850s Moruya was buzzing – shortly after being gazetted in 1951, the town took off with the Gold Rush. People and money flowed into the region – and bushrangers too!
But Moruya is better known for a different rock – its granite, most famously used in the Harbour Bridge, but also as columns in some of Sydney’s most majestic buildings.
Granite mining set Moruya apart, raising its status in Sydney and bringing more people and investment. Moruya was the undisputed commercial centre of the region, and was declared the seat of the new Eurobodalla Shire in 1906.
By the 1920s tourism started to take off, fuelled by the new Federal Capital in Canberra, the post-war boom and the arrival of the automobile. Hotels were booked, movie theatres started up and commerce thrived.
Start your journey at the Moruya Museum. The year is 1875 – nearly 150 years ago, the telephone has just been invented. The Gold Rush is in full swing and Granite Mining is starting to kick off!




Find Out About Your Street
Have you ever wondered who might have lived in your street, or who built that lovely house on the corner?
Who‘s been living in my Moruya Street?
will answer all your questions and more!
Moruya Museum 85 Campbell St

① Emmott House
Built 1875, Yorkshire Terrace design with added verandahs. Residence of prominent Moruya store owner Abraham Emmott. No 85 houses the Moruya Museum . . . ➔ more
② Stonemason’s Lathe
Made 1881 in Aberdeen, displayed in Museum grounds. This rare machine was used to turn Moruya granite into beautiful polished columns for Sydney’s majestic buildings. . . . ➔ more
③ Vivian Cottage
60 Campbell St ~1875, for local blacksmith Peter Williams. Victorian Georgian weatherboard, originally a 3-bedroom cottage.
Williams arrived in NSW from Cornwell in 1859, moving to Moruya after a period in Bodalla. He named the cottage after his relatives the Vivian family.
His daughter Harriet Williams ran it as a boarding house in the 1930s, changing the name to Angel’s Rest. Today Vivian Cottage is a private home.
④ The Moruya Examiner
56-8 Campbell St 1913, by Robert Henry Harvison, owner of the Moruya Examiner. Federation Italianate style, granite construction rarely used in domestic building. The Examiner previously operated from Harvison’s auctioneer rooms on Page St, these new buildings illustrate the paper’s rising influence.
⑤ Lawyer’s Cottage

54 Campbell St Late 1920s, attractive interwar cottage. Early use as a dental surgery, then became a private home, now a lawyer’s office. Replaced a 2-story general store and residence run by the Kee Chong family.
Campbell Street was a mixed residential-business precinct, occupied by a rising middle class.
⑥ POST & Telegraph – A New Civic Precinct
52 Campbell St 1887, refined late-Victorian Filigree architecture reflects the importance of postal services in an era of growing prosperity. The telegraph office was added to southern side 1926.
The Post Office established a new civic precinct for Moruya. The building is now run as a boutique B&B.
More information:
⑨ Page Street Residences
⑩ St Johns Church & Rectory
15 Page St 1891, designed by colonial architect Arthur Blacket. Brick & stone with slate roof, Victorian Gothic style. Replaced an original wooden church built in 1861. Stonework by Henry Ziegler, local stonemason and quarryman.
Neo-Georgian rectory built 1870-74, granite stone rendered on the outside. Hall built 1903, used for Sunday school and meetings.
⑮ Uniting Church
7 Page St 1864, Victorian Gothic designed by Sydney architect Thomas Rowe. Moruya’s first granite building, stonework by Henry Ziegler, local stonemason and quarryman.
The beautiful glass windows, Gothic door and wonderful acoustics add to the appeal of this classic church building.
⑯ Police Residence
3 Page St 1879, Victorian style, designed by Colonial Architect’s Office. Initially used as temporary Court House and Police Station, then became the Police Sergeant’s quarters when the new Court House on Vulcan St was completed.
With the expansion of gold diggings came bushrangers, and a need to improve security. The NSW Government responded by allocating £1536 for new police buildings and court house. Now a private residence, the building is still owned by the NSW Police Force.
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⑰ Sacred Heart Catholic Church
36 Queen St Built 1887-88, Victorian Gothic, granite and sandstone construction designed by Sydney architects Sheerin & Hennessy. Stonework by Henry Ziegler, local stonemason and quarryman.
Extensive grounds house the St Mary’s Catholic School and until 1996 the Convent of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour. The convent building is now used for parish and school administration.
Queen Street was the original commercial centre of Moruya. It boasted 2 pubs, 3 general stores and 2 tea-rooms. Queen St was the place to be!
㉑ Mylott’s Bakery
57-9 Queen St 1932, by local baker Paddy Mylott. The building has been modified but some fine 1930s detailing remains – leadlight windows, period tiling and unpainted brickwork. A residence was located above the bakery and a resident’s doorway and several windows open onto the Vulcan Street facade.
Paddy Mylott was one of eight children – his sister Eva Mylott became a world famous singer, her grandson is actor Mel Gibson.
The building was used by the Mylott family as a bakery outlet for over seventy years, until 2006. Now refurbished as the Commonwealth Bank.
Vulcan Street – the NEW Commercial Heart

Vulcan St had been the domain of many pubs in the Gold Rush, but Emmott’s Beehive Store ushered a new era, making Vulcan St the commercial heart.
Vulcan Street was named after the premises of the blacksmith’s
James Gee – located near the river behind the boatshed.
㉒ Court House & Police Precinct
65 Vulcan St 1879-80. Victorian Italianate, designed by James Barnet of the Colonial Architects Office. Painted and rendered brickwork with timber balustrades and columns.
A prominent building, it reflects the Colonial Architect’s grand concepts for major regional centre public buildings. The Police Station is adjacent, and the lock-up keeper’s residence is at the rear read more . . .
㉕ Moruya Bridge & Boatshed
The current bridge was built in 1966 and is the fourth on this site. The first was built in 1876. The second opened in 1900 and but was destroyed in the 1945 floods. A “temporary” replacement was built, finally replaced by the current bridge over 20 years later!
The River was the lifeblood of Moruya’s economy, providing the main transport route for produce, timber, gold and granite. The journey through the Moruya Heads was treacherous and many lost their lives.
㉚ Beehive store – now Harris Scarfe
64 Vulcan St In 1862, Abraham Emmott founded the Beehive Store on this site. The Beehive was the centre of the town’s commercial activity.
Emmott sold the Beehive in 1927, but the buyer continued to trade under the Emmott name until the 1970’s. It has been several stores since, now trading as Harris Scarfe. Current building dates from 1959.
㉝ Air Raid Tavern

73 Vulcan St 1953, Post-War Neo-Federation. The building follows the footprint of former Keating’s Hotel which burnt down in 1943. After the fire, the bar re-opened in the stables – blackout rules were in place due to Japanese submarine activity off the coast – hence it became known as the Air Raid Shelter.
㉟ pINK gATES
The Pink Gates were originally at one of the two entrances to the showground. These replica gates now mark a walk through the golf course to the showground.
The present showground dates from 1914, having moved from its riverside location near the current bowling club site. The first show in 1879 was held on land at the corner of Murray and Evans Street.
Acknowledgments
This walk draws on the work of many to document Moruya’s extensive and fascinating heritage buildings. All sites are listed on the Eurobodalla Shire Council’s heritage register, with the exception of Emmott’s Beehive Store which was re-built in 1959. Year is when construction commenced.
All images from MDHS collection.