Panorama of Beechworth town centre
Beechworth – lies 24km off the Hume Fwy, & between Wangarratta and Wodonga. This is one of Victoria’s best preserved and most beautiful gold towns,& magnificently sited in the foothills of the Alps. During Feb: Drive Back in Time (vintage car rally). Easter: Golden Horseshoes Festival. Nov: Celtic Festival.
History
Originally used for grazing by the settler David Reid, the area was known as Mayday Hills until 1853, when it was renamed Beechworth. The Post Office opened on 1 May 1853 as Spring Creek and was renamed Beechworth on 1 January 1854.
Notable figures
Like many Australian country towns associated with the early goldfields, Beechworth had its share of colourful characters and villains. Among the infamous during the 1870s was, the one time, Livery Stable owner, later the ‘Dog Officer’, at some other time the ‘Pound Officer’ and another time shire revenue officer; John Phelan. (O’Brien, ‘Awaiting Ned Kelly’ & Jones, The Friendship, p. 29.) Phelan was a continual litigant, correspondent to the newspapers and advertiser. His official and officious escapades were mockingly reported in the local paper.(O’Brien)
Histories
- Griffiths, Tom. Beechworth: An Australian Country Town and its Past, Greenhouse, North Melbourne, 1987. (solid research piece on a post-gold boom town and its re-invention)
- McQuilton, John. The Kelly Outbreak 1878-1880, Melbourne University Press, Carlton, 1979. (wonderful insight into the Kelly Outbreak in NE Victoria and its geographical causes)
- O’Brien, Antony. Shenanigans on the Ovens Goldfields: The 1859 Election, Artillery Publishing, Hartwell, 2005. (a solid, controversial piece with good insights into the social conflicts which emerged on the Ovens goldfield during an election year)
- Woods, Carole. Beechworth: A Titan’s Field, Hargreen, North Melbourne, 1985. (a wide ranging solid research piece on Beechworth from its earliest days 1830s to the late 1800s)
- Williams, Jennifer. Listen to what they say, 2005. (a comprehensive oral history of the town from the early 1900s to the modern era)
- Cronin, Kathryn. Colonial Casualties: Chinese in Early Victoria, Melbourne University Press, Carlton, 1997, (encompasses the Chinese miners of Northeastern Victoria)
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