Back in the 1870s in the ranges west of Nowra there was once a thriving and wealthy gold-mining town called Yalwal. It had a school, hotels, stores, homes and thousands of ounces of pure gold were crushed from the rock in the surrounding hills, but by the early 20th century the gold had petered out and most of the good folk of Yalwal left. Around 1930 a devestating bush-fire wiped out what remained. In 1971 a dam was built on the creek that had once supplied the town with water to work the mines and now, somewhat ironically, the pioneer town lies beneath the still waters of Danjera Dam
