VICTORIA'S GREATEST DRIVING TOURS AND HERITAGE TOWNS
Historic...YACKANDANDAH
In 1846, squatter David Reid built a flourmill on the banks of Yackandandah Creek. In the course of digging the water-wheel race and clay for the bricks, Reid’s workers noticed a gleam of gold. Attempting to discourage them, Reid stated “there is no gold in this colony or in this part of the world.”
Little is known of the intervening period, but by 1852 - following discoveries at nearby Beechworth - thousands of diggers soon spread along the creek to Allan’s Flat. Yackandandah was in the grip of a major gold discovery; before long, few traces remained of the mill house, stone walling and the 500 wooden piles sunk for the mill’s dam.
In 1856 the town was surveyed and several buildings constructed including the wooden slab schoolhouse, shops, banks, churches, and numerous hotels.
One of the most distinguished pupils of the Yackandandah school was Isaac Isaacs. As a young boy, Isaacs arrived by bullock dray from Melbourne with his family. At the age of fifteen he became a pupil teacher. By 1882 Isaacs was a prominent barrister in Melbourne; ten years later he was elected Member of Parliament for Bogong and finally Sir Isaac Alfred Isaacs became the first Australian-born Governor-General between 1931-6.
The town had produced a prominent Australian, but for Yackandandah a long period of decline followed for both alluvial and reef mining. By the 1890s the town was all but deserted.
The town’s earliest public building was the Post Office circa 1863, originally a small timber structure where business was conducted on the verandah. The former Dean’s Store was built by a Mr Roper in 1864, using local fired red bricks and slate roofing. At one time it operated as grocery store and drapery with a millinery upstairs, and its interesting arched windows feature a decorative “lamb’s tongue” moulding.
One of the most impressive facades on High Street is the temple-like Athenaeum, built in 1878; it later housed 3000 books and was considered the social and intellectual centre of town.
At nearby Osborne’s Flat, vague signs of disturbed ground are all that remain of a village of five hotels, three stores, lodging house, blacksmith, butcher and other shops. Nearby Rowdy Flat was ostensibly a rough and noisy township, but also one of the richest alluvial fields of the district. Time has erased both settlements.
Many of Yackandandah's original timber and brick buildings are well preserved and listed by the Australian Heritage Commission, Heritage Victoria and the National Trust. The main street reveals shops, banks and hotels probably only a little changed from the town’s golden era. Unfortunately the local museum, housed in the old Bank of Victoria premises, is closed after a fire in December 2006.
On the edge of town, Karr’s Reef goldmine was worked for many years to a depth of 30m, yielding hundreds of ounces of gold. Guided tours can be undertaken today, exploring the lower-level workings and the main tunnel; the original ore cart is still in working order.
In Autumn, Yackandandah’s deciduous trees blaze with golden colours, and a decided chill in the air tempts visitors indoors to explore the bakery, craft shops and cafés which dot the main street. The Star Hotel is good for counter lunch or dinner.
Yackaandandah is located 295km north-east of Melbourne via the Hume Freeway and Beechworth, a four hour drive.
see my Yackandandah images at www.australianplaces.net
