Zion Chapel, Rylstone

Photo: BVI Mural Presentation by Virginia Hollister

Here is the Methodist Zion Chapel, 1852 and in front is the first police station of timber slabs.

Ref: Virginia Hollister

The village of Rylstone did not grow immediately. By 1849, when William Arrnstrong came to Rylstone, there were only three buildings in Louee Street, including a hotel and a smithy. There was also a post office opened on 1 January 1849. In 1852 the first church building was erected, the Methodist Zion Chapel in Cox Street, now demolished.

Ref: W. Staff ed, A History of Rylstone, 1820 to 1988, Rylstone 1988, 1-2; Staff ed., Rylstone, 37, 49 

An extract from the Mudgee Guardian shows that a number of people attended a meeting called by the Chamber of Commerce on Saturday, September 28, 1963 for the purpose of forming a committee with the intention of preserving the Zion Chapel. The chosen name for this was to be called The Rylstone District Historical Society.

Ref: Mudgee Guardian article