[2] In popular literature it has been stated that William Tom Jr, John Lister and Edward Hargraves found payable gold in February 1851 at the Ophir gold diggings, located at the confluence of Summer Hill Creek and Lewis Ponds Creek (33°10′7.68″S 149°14′19.68″E / 33.1688000°S 149.2388000°E / -33.1688000; 149.2388000).

[5] Although Hargraves was honoured and rewarded, it may have been William Tipple Smith mineralogist, who first discovered gold at what would be later named Ophir, in 1848.

by Lynette Ramsay Silver, in the foreword of which geology Professor David Branagan of Sydney University concurs and states "It is good to see him deservedly remembered in the pages of this book".

[6] William Tipple Smith was one of the owners of the Fitzroy Iron Works at Mittagong and, during a visit in February 1849, Governor Charles Augustus Fitz Roy was presented with a steel knife "mounted with colonial gold".

[7] Some remnants of old alluvial, reef, and deep lead mines, are located within the Ophir Reserve, which includes the former site of the town.