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Smiths Gully

(3760, 30 km NE, Nillumbik Shire)

Smiths Gully is the remnant of the town of Market Square, which flourished briefly and was the first mining village established after the gold discoveries in the so-called Caledonia fields in August 1854. It was in scrubby land near One Tree Hill, and the diggings on the Old Caledonia Gully were easily accessible only via St Andrews. A local school operated from 1867. It became the state school in 1876 but was barely viable by the early 1880s and closed as population left the vicinity. The Queenstown Cemetery and Peter Franke Reserve on Smiths Gully Road recall the area's gold-era past.

Andrew Lemon