Smythesdale is a town in Victoria,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The town is located on the

Glenelg Highway Glenelg Highway is a rural highway in south-eastern Australia, linking the major regional centres of Mount Gambier in south-eastern South Australia with Ballarat in western Victoria. Route Glenelg Highway commences at the intersection with Pri ...

. Most of the town is located in the Golden Plains Shire local government area. Smythesdale is west of

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) () is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Ballarat had a population of 111,973, making it the third-largest urban inland city in Australia and the third-largest city in Victoria. Within mo ...

and west of the state capital,

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. At the , Smythesdale and the surrounding area had a population of 1,189. 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 capi ...

, 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 re ...

, a

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

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, a

polymath A polymath or polyhistor is an individual whose knowledge spans many different subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems. Polymaths often prefer a specific context in which to explain their knowledge, ...

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 (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

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

Heritage listed sites

Smythesdale contains a number of heritage listed sites, including: * Glenelg Highway, Glenelg Highway Stone Mileposts * 64 Brooke Street, Smythesdale Court House * Surface Hill Road, Surface Hill Hydraulic Gold Sluicing Pit

References

External links

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