"But 'The Flat' is far from dead," was a headline on the front page of The Canberra Times on this day 58 years ago.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Captains Flat, the town that appeared doomed when the Lake George mine closed suddenly, was far from dead, the article stated.
The town had a minor boom instead. Families had ceased to leave the town, most miners out of work had found other jobs and work had started on reconstruction on the Captains Flat Queanbeyan Road.
Four months prior, more than 300 men queued up for mobs at an emergency branch of the Commonwealth Employment Service.
Single men and families moved out and businessmen feared their shops had become worthless overnight.
The Commonwealth and the NSW governments were called on to make a special grant to reconstruct the 28-mile Captains Flat Road to enable miners to travel to work in Queanbeyan and Canberra.
The hotel was crowded, shopkeepers traded on as normal and the Workmen's Club was ready for the paynight rushes.
The town was back on the road to recovery.