FARMERS ARMS HOTEL, CRESWICK, AUSTRALIA

Built on the proceeds of rich gold deposits mined from the 1850's, Creswick today proudly displays fine examples of the grand architecture so reminiscent of that bygone era. A stroll down the main street will reveal a number of historic buildings including the former State Savings Bank,  Post Office, Library, Creswick Havilah Masonic Lodge and the FARMERS ARMS HOTEL.

Blackwood Hotel, Blackwood, Victoria.

Blackwood Hotel, Blackwood, Victoria

Located in beautiful Blackwood in the central Victorian Wombat State Forest on the Greendale - Trentham  

Road.

The Blackwood Pub was built in 1868. It is the oldest weatherboard pub with a continuous licence.
                                                               

The Blackwood Pub, in the historic gold mining township of Blackwood, is surrounded by spectacular forest, full    of memories of the gold rush.

In years gone by it was a bustling town, with axes, picks ans shovels aswinging to and fro, when coaches           driven by Cobb & Co would thunder through the town.

The place was full of miners, all were there to make their fortunes in that spot so full of gold.

Today, a century later, those golden days are now rest - just a quiet little hamlet that we love best.

Frenchman's Inn Hotel, Cressy, Victoria, Australia

Frenchman's Inn Hotel, Cressy, Victoria, Australia

The original Frenchman's Inn was built in was built on the banks of the Wodi Yallok river in 1839 by Frederick Jean Durveney. The pictured building was rebuilt on the same site in 1940.
The hotel was closed in 2008. It is now a private residence.

http://www.gdaypubs.com.au/VIC/cressy/54647/former-frenchmans-inn-hotel.html

Mineral Springs Hotel, Korweinguboora, Victoria

Korweinguboora is situated on the road between Ballan and Daylesford in central Victoria. Originally known as Spargo Creek, the hotel was built for the workers in the early1900's when a reservoir was built on the nearby Werribee River to store water for Geelong. 

The roof of the original building can be seen in the photograph. The unique position of the hotel is it's isolation from the rest of the area. Travelling through dense bush, the hotel is the only building for miles and miles.

Unfortunately the hotel is now a private residence in the middle of nowhere... back in the nineties a young, smart, entrepreneur took over the license and marketed the isolation with country music.. to the extent that 10 to 20 buses every Saturday and Sunday nights would travel from Melbourne full with patrons. But like everything...it died...just like this historical hotel.

The Farmers Arms Hotel, Daylesford, Victoria

Daylesford was founded in 1852 with the finding of alluvial gold in the area. In 1857, the Farmers Arms Hotel was the first hotel built  situated on the road from Melbourne on the way to the gold field.

Spring Creek Savoia Hotel, Hepburn Springs, Victoria

The original Savoia Hotel, was built in 1870′s and is situated in the picturesque township of Hepburn Springs.

The town was destroyed by fire in the early 1900's, the town was rebuilt in predominately Edwardian style architecture, such as the hotel today

Hepburn Springs is a resort town located in the middle of the largest concentration of mineral springs in Australia. It is in Victoria, 48 km northeast of Ballarat.

Hepburn Springs was originally known as "Spring Creek", hence the name of the hotel.

The Savoia is named after the royal family of the unified Italy.

 www.savoiahotel.com.au/

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Swiss Mountain Hotel, Blampied, Victoria

Established during the Victorian gold rush, the Swiss Mountain Hotel was one of Victoria's oldest licensed hotels until it was recently closed due to dwindling patronage.

Originally the hotel was named the The Manchester, but was renamed the Swiss Mountain in the 1880's by the new owner, a Swiss immigrant, Andre LaFranchi. The LeFranchi family operated the hotel for 80 years.

An interesting history of the Blampied district by  Aussie Rules football identity, Phil Cleary can be found here.
  

 

Batesford Hotel, Batesford, Victoria

Batesford is named after Alfred and John Bates who settled here in 1837 at a place where the river could be forded. The township was surveyed in 1854 and was originally named Hopeton after George Hope whose land it formed a part. A feature of Batesford is the bluestone bridge dating from 1859 which now forms part of the service road past the Batesford Hotel (formerly the Derwent or Batesford Hotel).

The hotel was named the Derwent Hotel for over one hundred years and had only six mine hosts over that period. The name has been changed by the last two owners, from the Dog Rocks to The Batesford in the last couple of years. It is a crying shame that a building steeped in history is treated with complete contempt by so called 'new age' hoteliers.

Lal Lal Falls Hotel, Lal Lal, Victoria

Lal Lal is a town in Victoria, Australia. The town is located in the Shire of Moorabool and on the Geelong-Ballarat railway line, 108 kilometres (67 mi) west of the state capital, Melbourne.Lal Lal Falls and the Lal Lal reservoir on the Moorabool River are to the north of the town

Langdon Arms, Burrumbeet, Victoria

Burrumbeet is a town in western Victoria, Australia. The town is located on the Western Highway, 136 kilometres (85 mi) west of the state capital, Melbourne and 24 kilometres (15 mi) west of the regional centre, Ballarat. At the 2006 census, Burrumbeet and the surrounding area had a population of 158.
Lake Burrumbeet, a large but shallow eutrophic lake, is located nearby. 

^{The name Lambton Arms comes from a district pioneer called Henry Lambton.}

 

The Windermere Hotel, Cardigan, Victoria

The Windermere was once a busy hotel on the Western Highway (the main route between Melbourne and Adelaide) just outside Ballarat until the Western Highway Bypass was built. Today it is the local for residents of Cardigan Village, a new fast growing area about 10 kms west of Ballarat.

Group of Men & Boys Pictured Outside the Windermere Hotel, Ballarat, Victoria, circa 1905.

 

 

Avoca Hotel - Avoca, Victoria

Avoca Hotel - Avoca, Victoria

 Avoca is a town in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia, 71 kilometres (44 mi) north west of Ballarat. It is one of two main towns in the Pyrenees Shire, the other being Beaufort to the south. At the 2006 census, Avoca had a population of 951.



The Avoca is one of two pubs in the town...one for each side of the main street.

Hotel Victoria - Avoca, Victoria

Hotel Victoria - Avoca, Victoria

Built in 1930, with a Spanish style that was very popular in Hollywood at the time, the Vic is one of two pubs in Avoca.
Avoca is a town in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia, 71 kilometres (44 mi) north west of Ballarat. It is one of two main towns in the Pyrenees Shire, the other being Beaufort to the south. At the 2006 census, Avoca had a population of 951.
Avoca has had a number of A.F.L. players over the years. The most notable being Jim Jess who played 223 games for Richmond Football Club and playing in the 1980 Premiership. Jim Jess also represented Victoria on 5 occasions and was an All Australian rep. The town has one current player, Darren Jolly now playing at Collingwood Football Club recruited from the Sydney Swans at the end of the 2009 AFL season.

Britannia Hotel - Carisbrook, Victoria

Britannia Hotel, Carisbrook, Victoria

Small, historic goldmining town Carisbrook is a very pleasant little town of several hundred people located 159 km north-west of Melbourne between Castlemaine and Maryborough (7 km to the west). A former goldmining town it possesses some fine old bluestone buildings.
Carisbrook derives from an early pastoral run which was named in honour of the squatter's daughter Caroline. The Simson brothers, who later took up runs in the area, made a great deal of money in the 1850s by collecting tolls from diggers travelling between Castlemaine and Maryborough. The township also arose on the backs of this through-traffic which was in need of facilities and supplies.
In 1854 the population was around 100. It became a borough in 1857. A goldrush attracted some 15 000 diggers to Majorca, just south of Carisbrook, in 1863.

Court House Hotel - Talbot, Victoria

Court House Hotel, Talbot..Victoria

Talbot is small historic town situated in central Victoria between Ballarat and Maryborough. Gold was discovered around Talbot around 1855 surging the population to 15,000 overnight. Many hotels sprung up in the town including the Court House Hotel built in 1861 being the only one still operating today.

 Many of the buildings still existing in the town were built during the 1860s and 1870s. During the late 1880s the mines began to close and the population slowly started to drift away. The return of soldiers from the First World War saw an acceleration of this drift. With no established industries left, the town today is only a shadow of the town born during those early days of 1860. However, Talbot still has an interesting story to tell to any visitors.

Railway Hotel, Elaine, Victoria

Elaine is a town in Victoria, Australia, located on the Midland Highway between Ballarat and Geelong. At the 2006 census, Elaine and the surrounding area had a population of 677.
The railway came to the town with the opening of the Geelong-Ballarat line in 1862, with the local railway station opened soon after, but today only grain and freight trains use the line.  The hotel is situated opposite the now disused railway station.

Miners Rest Tavern, Victoria

Miners Rest is a small community on the outskirts of Ballarat, Victoria.

Wye River Hotel, Great Ocean Road, Victoria

The Wye Beach Hotel

The Wye Beach Hotel is famously located in Wye River, on the Great Ocean Road. Its prime position affords you a completely uninhibited ocean view, and a truly captivating and memorable experience. The safe, family environment makes it the perfect place to relax and unwind, or maybe even spot a whale! Best pub view in Australia? 
  
Wye River is a small town in Victoria, Australia. It is also the name given to the waterway which flows through the town and into the sea at this point. Situated some 155 km west of Melbourne, on the Otway Coast part of the scenic Great Ocean Road, the Wye River township is a popular tourist destination about 15 km west of the resort town of Lorne, Victoria. It became a popular place for Melbournians to holiday after the Great Ocean Road was officially opened in 1932. The postcode of Wye River is 3234. At the 2006 census, Wye River had a permanent population of 144 although its holiday population is ten times that number.

The Terminus Hotel, Forrest, Victoria

The Terminus, Forrest.

Forrest, Victoria is a small rural township located in the Otway Ranges. At the 2006 census, Forrest and the surrounding area had a population of 170.

The Terminus Hotel, was originally a wooden structure that boasted some 9 boarding rooms, until it burned to the ground in 1996 and resulted in the tragic loss of the then publicans son in the fire.   This new building was constructed not long after and remains today.

Royal Mail Hotel, Birregurra, Victoria

The Royal Mail

Birregurra is a town in Victoria, Australia approximately 130 km south-west of Melbourne. At the 2006 census, Birregurra had a population of 688.
A Post Office opened in the area on 1 October 1858 and was renamed Mount Gellibrand in 1894, a few days before another office nearby was opened as Birregurra.
The Royal Mail Hotel is the centre piece of the small but thriving town of Birregurra
The hotel has been operating since 1871 and is the only hotel in town.
Birregurra is at the foot of the Otway Ranges, 30mins from Lorne on the Great Ocean Road and 60 minutes from Apollo Bay