Maryborough history in a nutshell.....

The first sheep farmers arrived in the area in 1840 and prospectors arrived in the area amidst the gold fever of 1851 and a rush occurred near the future townsite in 1854 with the discovery of payable gold at White Hill, about 4 km north of present-day Maryborough. Other major finds followed and there were soon somewhere between 25,000 and 50,000 diggers on the local fields. At first there were plenty of nuggets which encouraged shallow alluvial mining.

The brush in the surrounding countryside is a series of holes and mounds, some small, some major digging and mining still going on to this day. Last week there was a cave-in at a gold mine not far from here. Rod has picked up a nugget or two in his 'fossiling' days.

Eventually the gold ran out or lost its appeal, and a knitting mill was established, plus a small printing industry, [there are still a few large printing companies here], an industrial area was also in existence.

The fine stone, concrete or brick buildings that still exist today, most very well maintained, attest to the town's importance and wealth in its hey-day. The railway Station is a case in point. It is a very magnificent building in every sense of the word. It would not be out of order as a major station in London.


There is a story that when it was built in 1890, there were two stations drawn up, one for Melbourne and one for Maryborough. Through graft, cajoling or whatever, little Maryborough got the one intended for Melbourne. True or ??? Mark Twain said that Maryborough was a railway station with a town attached to It.

Farming in the area is intense and has suffered greatly in the last 10 years with the drought here. The drought appears to be a change in the weather patterns more than global warming, although maybe the two are the same thing??? As I write this the rain on the roof sounds like a Vancouver rain, when is stays for days, or at least all day as opposed to a downpour and then heat. Yesterday is was 39 C, today's high is to be 19 C.


The photos shown were all taken on a 1/2 hour stroll within a 1/2 kilometre area in the city centre. Remember - 8,000 people, about Cloverdale in size.