History

Crime and compassion on the goldfields

Bendigo resident and keen historian Lynne Cooper has had an incredible response to her long awaited book, The Mystery Medal - A Tale of Crime and Compassion Castlemaine Goldfields 1889.

Castlemaine cannons

In the ‘Let’s Take a Look Back’ section in the Castlemaine Mail on November 29, 2024, two large cannons were featured as part of a photograph of the gardens taken in the 1890s.

Let’s take a look back at the first Winters Flat Primary School

This early photograph is from the Castlemaine Historical Society collection and features the first Winters Flat Primary School.

Let’s take a look back at Castlemaine Botanical Gardens

This photograph with a view to the south towards Walker Street, was taken by an unknown photographer in 1894.

Let’s take a look back Jack Harcus’s Electrical Shop Circa

The building on the right of this black and white image at 62 Lyttleton Street, housed the retail electrical business of John William Simpson Harcus, better known in Castlemaine as Jack Harcus.

Let’s take a look back at Pyrenees Highway – McKenzie Hill

1974

This image courtesy Ray Stevenson and G.

Lives shattered in our early floods

Local resident and keen history buff Stephen Collicoat has kindly shared this intriguing story about early flooding in Castlemaine.

Let’s take a look back at Forest Street / Camp Reserve 

This is an enlargement of an 1871 image from the Holtermann Collection and was taken from Monument Hill.

Rare Danish discovery in Castlemaine

Local Danophile, Gavan Thomson was surprised and delighted to find a vintage Danish Royal Coat of Arms embroidery in the Imperial Hotel's occasional antique shop recently.

From the archives

20 years ago

July 2, 2004

Mount Alexander shire budget watchers are braying for blood as anger mounts against the council and its senior staff about overruns in spending totalling almost half a million dollars.

Camp Reserve dig sparks interest

A crowd of interested community members turned out to learn the findings of a three-day archaeological investigation at Castlemaine's historic Camp Reserve last Friday. 

Castlemaine couple survive shipwreck terror

Local resident and keen history buff Stephen Collicoat has kindly shared this intriguing story about his maternal great grandparents...

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