BEECHWORTH SETTLEMENT

Home to the Duduroa people before European settlement in 1839, Beechworth was predominantly a grazing area until the discovery of gold in February 1852, when thousands of hopefuls rushed to the Ovens goldfield in search of their fortunes. From the canvas and timber settlement rapid social and economic change occurred.

In addition to the English, Irish and Scottish arrivals, settlers came to Beechworth from around the globe - Italians, Americans, Indians, Syrians, Germans - going into businesses ranging from viticulture to stagecoaches, shopkeeping and medicine.

Beechworth was the first district township to grow as a result of gold. In November 1852 the gold escorts began fortnightly journeys to Melbourne.

Fredrick Brown, James Ingram and George Kerferd arrived in 1853. Along with local shopkeepers who had come to sell goods to the miners, they sent a deputation to the Government with request that the May Day Hills goldfields be surveyed and a township established. The Government surveyor completed his work and on 1st July 1853 Beechworth was declared a town. No-one knows the exact origin of the name.

Because of the amount of petty and serious crime on the goldfields a gaol was considered a priority. Long wooden buildings, surrounded by a stockade were completed towards the end of 1853.

Robert O'Hara Burke arrived in Beechworth in 1855, the same year the Ovens and Murray Advertiser began publication, the law courts opened and the flour mill began operating.

In 1856 Beechworth was declared a District and elections took place for the first Council and a land grant was received from the Government for what is now the site of the Shire Hall and the Visitor Information Centre. That same year the layout of the town's roads and footpaths was formalised and the Council passed a measure prohibiting the erection of canvas-built shops or homes.

Beechworth became the major administrative centre for the whole of north-east Victoria; by then there were five courts held in the town (Police, Petty Sessions, Mining Board, County and Supreme Court).

In the 1850's the main Melbourne to Sydney road included both Wangaratta and Beechworth before heading to Wodonga and Albury. Coaches ran daily from Beechworth to Melbourne, Yackandandah and Albury. When, in 1873, Wangaratta secured the passage of the North-Easter railway, Beechworth's influence began to decline (the rail was extended to Beechworth in 1876).

The town's early administrators had had the vision to realise that the gold would not last forever and made substantial investment in public services. A benevolent asylum, a general hospital, a lunatic asylum and a gaol were all established in the 1850's and 60's. These institutions maintained the economic strength of Beechworth after the gold years until the 1990's.

In the 1980's, with the decline of the public sector presence, the Beechworth community faced having to develop a new economic base. This began by building on the rich legacy from the 19th century, with its stunning streetscape and over 30 notable local buildings on the National Trust register; the development of tourism seemed the 'way to go'. There were characters and events that were already known; the Golden Horseshoes Festival - celebrated with the Easter Parade every year attracting 10-15,000 visitors, Robert O'Hara Burke, who was the Ovens police superintendent from August 1854, the Museum is a memorial to him. Ned Kelly, who began his legal career in Beechworth! Ned, his family and members of the gang appeared at the local courts and served time at the Beechworth gaol.

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