Joadja is a historic abandoned ghost town about 32 km west of Mittagong.
The town was established in the 1870s by the Australian Kerosene Oil and Mineral Company as Joadja valley's walls contained a vast reserve of shale.
Notably, the town back in its time was one of the most populous towns in the Highlands.
However, at the turn of the century when the shale ran out, the town's population began to dwindle and the town would be eventually abandoned by the early 1900s.

Joadja at its height had a post office, theatre, general store, bakery, school of arts, refinery, railway line, miner's cottages and many other buildings.
Notably, it was one of the first rural towns in New South Wales to be connected to the telephone.

Joadja's legacy still remains with many of the historical buildings remaining in ruin such as some of the miners' cottages, a school house, church, cemetery and refinery devices such as shale ovens.
These ovens are protected and is World Heritage listed.


Today, the Joadja Distillery produces Single Malt Whisky in honour of the Scottish mining families who worked the rich coal and shale seams in the late 1800s.
Joadja is a historic abandoned ghost town about 32 km west of Mittagong. The town was established in the 1870s by the Australian Kerosene Oil and Mineral Company as Joadja valley's walls contained a vast reserve of shale. Notably, the town back in its time was one of the most populous towns in the Highlands. However, at the turn of the century when the shale ran out, the town's population began to dwindle and the town would be eventually abandoned by the early 1900s.
Joadja at its height had a post office, theatre, general store, bakery, school of arts, refinery, railway line, miner's cottages and many other buildings. Notably, it was one of the first rural towns in New South Wales to be connected to the telephone.
Joadja's legacy still remains with many of the historical buildings remaining in ruin such as some of the miners' cottages, a school house, church, cemetery and refinery devices such as shale ovens. These ovens are protected and is World Heritage listed. 

Today, the Joadja Distillery produces Single Malt Whisky in honour of the Scottish mining families who worked the rich coal and shale seams in the late 1800s.
Southern Highlands (New South Wales)