Steiglitz
Historic abandoned goldmining town
Steiglitz is an abandoned goldmining town which is now an Historic Park under the control of Parks Victoria. It is located on the edge of Brisbane Ranges National Park, 86 km west of Melbourne via the shortest route or 37 km north-west of Geelong on the road between Anakie and Meredith.

The first European settlers were the squatters Charles and Robert von Steiglitz who established a run in 1847. Alluvial gold was found on their property in 1853 by Andrew Love, the son of Geelong's first resident clergyman. However, a gold rush did not occur until a rich reef was discovered on Sutherland Creek in 1855. There were soon 2000 people on-site. By 1856 alluvial mining had ceased and quartz-crushing batteries were hard at work.

The population temporarily declined in the late 1850s but mechanised mining in the 1860s reinvigorated interest and profits. Quartz reefs were exploited all over the district in the 1860s and 1870s but returns diminished in the late 1870s and the population again declined to a few hundred.

Mining recommenced in the 1890s, largely to reprocess the old tailings with new cyanide technology. This temporarily reinvigorated the town with the population again surging to 2000. However, returns proved disappointing and commercial activity was already in decline by 1896. Many of the buildings were sold off and the population was down to 300 in 1900. A little mining continued in the 20th century but it ceased altogether in 1941. The school closed in 1958 and the post office in 1966, by which time the population was down to 13.

As the last residents departed the town was in a parlous condition with buildings and roads decaying. The National Parks Service took control of the courthouse in 1977 and has since bought up all of the land on which Steiglitz stood, preserving the relics that remain. Rather than using the site to recreate a contemporary gold town, as at Sovereign Hill (see entry on Ballarat), Steiglitz Historic Park was conceived as a complimentary example of what happens when the gold runs out and there is nothing else to keep the population.

Things to see:  

Courthouse and Relics
The slate-roofed red-brick courthouse (the town's second) was built in 1875 when Steiglitz was still a flourishing gold town. However, the gold ran out in the late 1870s and the courthouse closed. It reopened in 1895 during a second wave of mining but the town was again in decline by 1896 and it ceased operations in 1899. Over the years it has served as a site for religious services and as a residence. National Parks took control of the building in 1977 as the first stage of a general preservation effort.

It is now a museum which is open Sundays and public holidays from 10.30 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. You can obtain a pamphlet here which outlines a self-guided 45-minute walk which identifies the remains of the town. If the courthouse is closed there should be a pamphlet in the information box. Otherwise it can be obtained from the Anakie office (tel: 03 5284 1230) or from the central office, tel: 131 963.

Remnants include Scott's Hotel, a post office, a weatherboard cottage, a brick shop, a school, some building foundations, some old streets, shafts and tailings, and two very modest timber churches - St Paul's Anglican Church and St Thomas' Catholic Church. The latter was removed to Geelong in the 1950s but returned to Steiglitz in 1982 as part of the general preservation scheme.

Cairn
The cairn by the bridge is made of stone from the original Von Steiglitz homestead. It was near this site that William Hooley and Joseph Davis discovered the gold reef which, in 1855, sparked the gold rush which led to the establishment of the town.