Smythesdale is a town in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The town is located on the

Glenelg Highway Glenelg Highway is a rural highway in south-eastern Australia, linking Mount Gambier with Ballarat. Most of the highway is located within the Western part of the state of Victoria, though a short, 15 km stretch from the South Australia/V ...

. Most of the town is located in the

Golden Plains Shire The Golden Plains Shire is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the western part of the state. It covers an area of and in June 2018, had a population of 23,120. It includes the towns of Bannockburn, Dereel, Gheringhap, ...

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

; however, a small section lies in the Shire of Pyrenees. Smythesdale is west of

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resid ...

and west of the state capital,

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. At the , Smythesdale and the surrounding area had a population of 1,032. Smythesdale Primary School is a part of the Woady Yaloak PS with Ross Creek, Scarsdale, and Snake Valley as the other campus'. The town was established during the

Victorian Gold Rush The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. It led to a period of extreme prosperity for the Australian colony, and an influx of population growth and financial capita ...

, and the Post Office opened on 14 July 1854. The town was known as Smythe's Creek until 1864. Facilities in the town include the Court House

Hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

, a

bluestone Bluestone is a cultural or commercial name for a number of dimension or building stone varieties, including: * basalt in Victoria, Australia, and in New Zealand * dolerites in Tasmania, Australia; and in Britain (including Stonehenge) * felds ...

police lock up, constructed in 1869 and the old Court House, now home to the local historical society. The former courthouse closed on 1 January 1983 after having not been visited by a Magistrate since 1976, was briefly used as a Sunday school, and was then leased to the historical society in 1985. Smythesdale is the birthplace of

Arthur Alfred Lynch Arthur Alfred Lynch (16 October 1861 – 25 March 1934) was an Irish Australian civil engineer, physician, journalist, author, soldier, anti-imperialist and polymath. He served as MP in the UK House of Commons as member of the Irish Parliament ...

, a

polymath A polymath ( el, πολυμαθής, , "having learned much"; la, homo universalis, "universal human") is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific pro ...

who was trained in engineering and medicine, wrote poetry, was a Member of the British Parliament and fought against the British in the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

. It was also home to women's rights activist,

Lillias Margaret Skene Lillias Margaret Skene, (''née'' Hamilton; 28 March 186725 March 1957) was an Australian women's rights activist. Early life Lillias Hamilton was born on 28 March 1867 in Smythesdale, Victoria, Australia, the third child of Scottish-born poli ...

Heritage listed sites

Smythesdale contains a number of heritage listed sites, including: * Glenelg Highway,

Glenelg Highway Stone Mileposts Glenelg may refer to Places Australia * Glenelg, South Australia, a beachside suburb of Adelaide * Glenelg River (Victoria) * Glenelg River (Western Australia) * Glenelg County, Western Australia, a former county * Shire of Glenelg, Victoria * Shi ...

* 64 Brooke Street,

Smythesdale Court House Smythesdale is a town in Victoria, Australia. The town is located on the Glenelg Highway. Most of the town is located in the Golden Plains Shire local government area; however, a small section lies in the Shire of Pyrenees. Smythesdale is west ...

* Surface Hill Road, Surface Hill Hydraulic Gold Sluicing Pit

References

External links

Walkabout travel site
- accessed 2007-12-27. {{authority control Towns in Victoria (Australia) Mining towns in Victoria (Australia)