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From the collection of The Australian War Memorial

Part of the traditional land of the Wiradjuri Aboriginal people, the town of Glen Davis in the Capertee Valley west of the Great Dividing Range would be part of the regions west of Sydney explored by James Blackman in 1821. First settled by sheep farmers in the 1840s, the town would become known for its Shale Oil Works which began operating in the 1890s following the extension of a railway line through the town. Although the mine would be later abandoned, the Shale Oil Works would begin operating again during World War II to combat petrol shortages in Australia restoring Glen Davis to a thriving town once more. Rising operating costs saw the Oil Works closed in the 1950s and their ruins can be explored in Glen Davis today.