In the 1850s many people looking for gold went through on their way to the gold fields at Lambing Flat (Young) and Grenfell. The first school was started in 1857. The first bridge over the Lachlan River was built in 1870. Gold was found at Mount McDonald in the 1880s. The railway, from Sydney, reached Cowra in 1886. Local government started in 1888. The first telephone were connected in 1901. The town water supply was started in 1909, the gas in 1912, and town supplied electricity was connected in 1924.