Small town on the edge of the Mallee - site of the smallest mountain in Australia.
Wycheproof is an unusual town with a very wide main street - known to the locals as Broadway - and a huge grain silo. It is a service town for the surrounding cereal growing properties and is famous because Mount Wycheproof, which rises only 43 metres above the surrounding countryside, is the smallest registered mountain in Australia.
Location
Wycheproof is located 277 km north-west of Melbourne and 136 km from Bendigo on the Calder Highway.
^ TOPOrigin of Name
It is claimed that the town is named after a local Aboriginal word, 'witchi-poorp', which meant 'grass on a hill' or 'reed on a hill', a reference to Mt Wycheproof.
^ TOPThings to See and Do
Mount Wycheproof
Mount Wycheproof, at 43 m above the surrounding flat countryside, is said to be the smallest registered mountain in the Australia. It has pleasant views over the town and the surrounding plains. From 1978-1988 the King of the Mountain race saw men carrying 70-kg bags of wheat racing each other up the hill. There are walking tracks around the mountain and it is sometimes possible to see emus and kangaroos. Mt Wycheproof is geologically known as a ‘metamorphic boss’ or a granite eruption. These unique granite outcrops feature a very distinctive botanical composition, quite different to that of the open country. The lightwood wattle, acacia implexa, is particularly impressive in spring.
Centenary Park
Centenary Park on the Broadway (Calder Highway) is worth visiting as it has a number of boards explaining the history of the area with some good photographs. There is also a monument to Bernard 'Bunny' Read who in the 1970s was a four-time world champion boomerang thrower. And if that sounds like a modest achievement it is worth noting that his record included 147 consecutive catches. Are you impressed? There is also a wooden statue of a man carrying a 70kg bag of wheat and a large board recording the colourful history of the King of the Mountain race.
Wycheproof Museum
The local museum is located in Mount Street at the school. It is open on Wednesday and Sunday or by appointment. Of special interest is a flag embroidered by the ladies of the district to raise funds during/after World War 1. It has been restored.
Yo-Yo Tourist Attraction and Collectibles
For sheer country town quirkiness there is nothing quite like Yo-Yo Tourist Attraction and Collectibles in the main street. It appears to be a collection of rather large metal sculptures. Owned and run by former scrap metal merchant, Jimmy Johnson, it is an amazing collection of sculptures created out of out of everything from railway sleepers to bulldozer chains. Inside Johnson has turned his petrol station-come-art gallery into a celebration of Australian pennies and halfpennies by making wall-sized murals, key rings and postcards out of the coins.
The Post Office and Courthouse
Wycheproof doesn't appear to have a lot of significant historic buildings until the visitor arrives at the corner of Broadway and O'Connor streets where the town's post office (1889) and old courthouse (also 1889) stand out. The courthouse was constructed in a Classical Revival design with cream brick detailing on a red-brick, gabled facade. It is the town's most distinctive building.
History
* Before European settlement Mount Wycheproof was a crossroads for the local Buller Buller Wycher Aboriginal people.
* The first station in the district was established in 1846 by Robert Macredie. It was 76,800 acres (31,800 ha) and by 1867 it was running 50,000 sheep.
* By 1874 there was still only one settler in the district but a subdivision on the northern side of the mountain in that year saw the population rise to 130. James O'Connor built the Wycheproof Hotel in 1874. The town was surveyed in 1875.
* the railway arrived in 1883 with the railway line running up the main thoroughfare. The government was unwilling to pay extra money to purchase land for the track. The wide main street (officially the Calder Highway) is known as Broadway Street apparently because an American-born chemist said it reminded him of New York's Broadway.
* The grandfather of the Sir Douglas Nicholls, the first knighted Aborigine and first Aboriginal Governor of South Australia, lived in Wycheproof in the 1880s.
* In 1918 the Lonsdale Channel brought reliable water to the district.
* Today the town's economic base is evident in the one-million-bushel silos at the northern end of town. The district is known for its broad acre cereal farming.
^ TOPVisitor Information
Contact Wycheproof Community Resource Centre, 280 Broadway; (03) 5493 7455.
^ TOPUseful Websites
There is a useful local website - http://www.wycheproof.vic.au - which records upcoming events in the town and offers suggestions of activities for visitors.
^ TOP
We stopped at Wycheproof on 15th July next to Yo-Yo’s. I could not find a contact phone number for Jimmy Johnson as no one was at his wonderful display. Could you please give me his contact number and email address. I live in Melbourne and would consider coming back or ordering something to be delivered to Melbourne.
Hi Margaret, Jimmy Johnson is now 75. So he may have retired. I have found a number (03) 9801-6488 which may work. If you do not have success send me an email or alternatively contact the Wycheproof Community Resource Centre, 280 Broadway; (03) 5493 7455. They should know how to contact him.
Wycheproof was also the location of the world record run for the truck land speed record. The Jet powered truck, ‘Waltzing Matilda’, smashed the U.S held record in January 1979, averaging 277 km/h over a flying mile.
Can you purchase items on display at Yo-Yo’s?
I doubt it. Jimmy creates the things for the fun of it. Loves inventing. Maybe he will sell but that is not what he is trying to do. Check out https://open.abc.net.au/explore/19418 for a good story about him and his creativity.
I was there yesterday and chatted to him. He does sell his art.
Mount Wycheproof is not only the smallest mountain in Australia, it is the smallest registered mountain in the world.
A museum has opened in Mount Street, at the school. Open on Wednesday and Sunday, and you appointment. Of special interest is a flag embroidered by the ladies of the district to raise funds during/after WW1, which has been restored. Also an Avenue of honour was planted north of the town dedicated to those who lost their lives in War. Horse racing is held on the Saturday before the Melbourne Cup. Entertainment for young and old.
What is happening in Wycheproof this weekend ?
My Mum,Patricia Reynolds(nee Hannah ) was born there…At 94 she’s still going okay with help from aged care in Pakenham…Was there a State or primary school there where she may have had her early education ?
Don’t forget the wonderful “Bakery on Broadway “. A wonderful cafe with fantastic local made cakes/pies etc
Does anyone have any information on the mallee allotments back in the 1800s?
We are looking for family contacts and history on My G.G.Grandfather Alexander Gunn.
My maternal Grandmother was born on the family farm that was 14 ‘miles’ out of town in 1899.
The family built the home many years earlier when they settled before any children were born.
The ‘Dunn Family’ have be in Wyche a couple of centuries.
Great, great, grandfather came out from Scotland.
The single men were all given 1800 acres of land each.
Great, great grandfather and mother had all the 7 children born on the farm at Narraport/Wyche ‘Iona Farm.’
My grandmother married and lived in a 2-roomed hut with her husband Grandad Jones on the property then moved to Kerang.
My mother spent a lot of her life in Wycheproof.
The descendants of the Iona farm that didn’t marry or move from ‘Iona’ were brother and sister William and Katherine (Kit) Dunn. Aunty Lill Gaylor was on the top road.
‘Iona’ often housed the teachers at the local school ‘Karapugna’ .
Aunty Kit was Superintendent of the Narraport Presbyterian Church for 30+ years.
Because of her Polio and the severity that it affected her, she was confined to the farm in many ways.
Her musicality was much sought after.
Two V.F.L. Scouts came up to Wyche. They took our Weederman boys to Collingwood.
Collingwood became the one~eyed team for Wyche.
People would gather around the TV to watch the boys.
It was the ‘Town Team’.
Uncle Will was the 1st person in Victoria to have the Zephyr Car. It was in the Wyche show that year.
One of our folk won a Ribbon in the Stawell Gift.
Please check that also and put Wyche on the board.
Get us up there and out there.
Tiny mighty Wyche.
I went to most King of the Mountain and October Wyche Shows.
Boozy people wrecked King of the Mountain.
Please look at the history of the Dunns.
We have been here for years.
We are also original Pioneers and there are others.
The land of our Wyche Cemetery was donated by Great great grandfather Dunn to our Shire.
At the time the gentleman’s agreement was direct descendants would be buried there at no cost.
Great great Grandpas era were.
The history of Wyche is astounding and magnificent.
Keep searching and asking.
Grace to you.
My maternal Granmother was born on the family farm that was 14 ‘miles’ out of town in 1899.
The family built the home many years earlier when they settled before any children were born.
The ‘Dunn Family’ have be in Wyche a couple of centuries.
Great, great, grandfather came out from scotland.
The single men were all given 1800 acres of land each.
Great, great grandfather and mother had all the 7 children born on the farm at Narraport /Wyche ‘Iona Farm.’
My grandmother married and lived in a 2 roomed hut with her husband Grandad Jones on the property then moved to Kerang.
My mother spent a lot of her life in Wycheproof.
The decendants of the Iona farm that didnt marry or move from ‘Iona’ were brother and sister Willam and Katherine (Kit) Dunn. Aunty Lill Gaylor was on the top road.
‘Iona’ often housed the Teachers at the local school ‘Karapugna’ .
Aunty Kit was Superintendant of the Narraport Presbyterian Church for 30+ years.
Because of her Polio and the severity that it affected her, she was confined to the farm in many ways.
Her musicality was much sought after.
Two V.F.L. Scouts came up to Wyche. They took our Weederman boys to Collingwood.
Collingwood became the one~eyed team for Wyche.
People would gather around the t.v. to watch the boys.
It was the ‘Town Team’.
Uncle Will was the 1st person in Victoria to have the Zephyr Car. It was in the Wyche show that year.
One of our folk won a Ribbon in the Stawell Gift.
Please check that also and put Wyche on the board.
Get us up there and out there.
Tiny mighty Wyche.
I went to most King of the Mountain and October Wyche Shows.
Boozy people wrecked King of the Mountain.
Please look at the history of the Dunns.
We have been here for years.
We are also original Pioneers and there are others.
The land of our Wyche Cemetry was donated by Great great grandfather Dunn to our Shire.
At the time the gentlemans agreement was direct decendants would be buried there at no cost.
Great great Grandpas era were.
The history of Wyche is astounding and magnificent.
Keep searching and asking.
Grace to you.
Get out the details of the King of the Mountain when Rene Kink competed in the Wycheproof race in the eighties and a big farmer from the mallee won it. It was in all the news reports about the celebrity Rene Kink and put Wycheproof in the limelight.
How often and when does the train go through town please. Danny.
I am trying to locate the Gaylor Homestead my Grandmother was Elizabeth Agnes Gaylor and her sister was Annie Gaylor have a photo of the homestead and all of her siblings
I think you should call my mother who is Carol Gaylor to help you. 0428937680
How do you pronounce the town name?
Check out https://www.howtopronounce.com/mount-wycheproof.
Can I work in farming on leased land in your village