MOLLYMOOK

The area that is Mollymook today was originally farming land to the north of (and, therefore, with relatively easy access to) the port of Ulladulla. In 1859 Henry Mitchell set up a property which he called ‘Molly Moke’ which is believed to be derived from Mollymawk, a small species of albatross.

Uriah Coller became his neighbour. Some time around 1900 Uriah’s son, John, allowed public access through his property to the beach (now called Coller’s Beach, towards the southern end of Mollymook). It became a popular spot and, thereafter, the area developed a reputation for being an appealing holiday destination.

The area was known as Mollymoke until its name changed to Mollymook in 1931.

In the late 1910s a mining industry was established on Mollymoke’s southern headland to extract the mineral silica (which was used in the manufacture of firebricks; most of the silica mined at Mollymoke was shipped to BHP in Newcastle to be used in bricks that lined its blast furnaces) which had a purity of up to 98% (often claimed to be the purest deposit of silica in the world) and was relatively easy to extract because most deposits were situated at a depths of between just 3’6” and 6’. (Much of the rock remaining at the ‘Bogey Hole’ (the Aboriginal word for swimming hole) at the southern end of Mollymook Beach is silica.)

Initially the silica was transported by horse and dray to Ulladulla harbour for shipment north. Later, a tramway was built along the Prince’s Highway connecting Mollymoke with Ulladulla Harbour.

By 1924 it became uneconomic to mine the silica deposits at Mollymoke, so operations moved northwards with a silica crushing facility and a jetty being erected on Bannister Headland. Another tramway was built across Narrawallee Inlet to transport the mineral from nearby Conjola.

The industry declined during World War II and eventually disappeared. Tourism then became the town’s major industry, and the area became a popular place for retirees to live. A major building/rebuilding boom occurred from the 1990s that Mollymook’s population figures reflect: in 1954 Mollymook’s population was 55; in 1961 it was 142; in 1971 it was 550; in 1976 it was 1,373; in 2011 it was 4,526.