A town built on the sandalwood trade

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There was one car in the main street in the small town of Bencubbin when we visited there. Hopefully, it’s busier at other times. A major industry in days gone by was sandalwood cutting. By 1920, a record 14,000 tons of sandalwood was sent to the Asian markets, where it was used mostly as incense. Nowadays, sandalwood is hard to find in its natural state but it is being farmed in some areas. The sandalwood cutters were the pioneers of the Mt Marshall district around Bencubbin. By the time the railroad reached Bencubbin, there were hundreds of tons of sandalwood sitting at the rail head waiting to be moved out. The photo shows a mural on a wall in the town, depicting donkeys and mules hauling drays loaded with sandalwood.