A true gold mining ghost town
Graytown is a gold mining ghost town lying on a connecting road between Heathcote and Nagambie. At its peak in 1868 it had an estimated population of 20,000. By the 1960s most of the buildings, and the local population, had been removed. Today it is nothing more than a reminder of a once thriving township.
Location
Graytown is located 148 km north of Melbourne between Heathcote and Nagambie.
^ TOPOrigin of Name
A township was surveyed in 1869 and named 'Moormbool'. It was subsequently named Graytown after Moses Wilson Gray who was a parliamentarian for the local Rodney electorate between 1860-1864.
^ TOPThings to See and Do
Mining Ruins
On the road between Heathcote and Nagambie there is now nothing more than some old shafts (some are over 150 metres deep), mullock heaps, poppet legs, the occasional fence post and brick chimneys. It is hard to imagine that once Graytown was once a thriving settlement with ninety hotels (most of them would have only been tents with beer cooling in wet straw out the back), several banks, two newspapers, a post office, a police station, courts, most religious denominations, a concert hall, a school, a variety of commercial stores and a cricket team.
Other Attractions in the Area
The POW Camp
During World War II a prisoner-of-war camp. Approximately 250 Italian POWs and later German POW's were detained at Camp 6 Graytown POW Camp. The German POW's were mostly crew members from the German raider ship Kormoran which had sunk HMAS Sydney off the Western Australian coast. Some Finnish seamen were also held at Camp 6 Graytown. The prisoners returned to Europe on the Orontes in 1947. There is an exceptionally interesting history of the POW camp at http://livinginballan.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/graytown-and-pow-camp.html. It has excellent photographs and tells the story of the POWs.
History
* Prior to the arrival of Europeans the area was home to the Taungurong First Nations people.
* Gold was discovered in 1868.
* It was estimated that 20,000 people were on the goldfield by the end of 1868.
* A township was surveyed in 1869 and named 'Moormbool'.
* The alluvial gold rapidly disappeared and by late 1870 the population had declined to 150.
* The local primary school was opened in 1869.
* In 1870 a flood swamped the mines and destroyed numerous buildings.
* By 1875 there were only 130 people living in the district.
* In 1880 it was absorbed into McIvor Shire.
* By 1903 the town had only two hotels.
* In the Second World War a prisoner-of-war camp was set up with internees from a sunken German warship, the Kormoran.
* By 1960 most of the local buildings had been moved to other towns.
^ TOPVisitor Information
There is no visitor information centre in the town. The closest is the Heathcote Visitor Information Centre, cnr High and Barrack Street, Heathcote, tel: (03) 5433 3121.
^ TOPUseful Websites
There is useful historic information at Victorian Places. Check http://www.victorianplaces.com.au/graytown.
^ TOP
The cemetery is interesting.
My Mum was a Ferguson.
I was hoping to find my gg grandfather. His name was Martin Quinn. His family may have lived here or Nagambie. He was from Ireland but did work as a red soldier for the English. I have proof of his pay from defence in St Kilda Rd, Melbourne. Hope somebody can help me please. He was given land to live on. His wife’s name was Catherine Delaney. They had approx 8 children. He moved to Nyngan later and a place called hard times ,🏡😃
Hi i was a trustee at this cemetery until recently. Send me an email and i ll direct you rebeccacochrane4@gmail.com
In Graytown’s heyday 1868-70 was there a Polkinghorne Street in the old original diggings town.
Hello. My Great Grandfather was born in Spring Creek about 1864 when they but I cannot find anything for this period. Please advise. first arrived in Victoria.
His name was Thomas Edwards b: about 1864
Parents John Robert & Letitia Jones