Cassilis, Victoria
Encyclopedia
Cassilis is a ghost town
in Gippsland
, Victoria, Australia
. It was named after a district and castle in Ayrshire
, Scotland
. In the late 19th century, at the peak of the gold boom
, it was a thriving mining centre and home to more than 500 people.
The Post Office opened on 7 October 1879 and closed in 1950.
Gold-bearing quartz
reefs were discovered in 1885 at Long Gully, and by 1889 there was a battery in operation as well as a general store, butchery, bakery and Mechanics' Institute hall. A private school had already been operating when a government school commenced in the hall in 1890. The schools produced exceptional results, with pupils under headmaster McDonald gaining the highest percentage of scholarships in the State for several years. Two hotels, a coffee palace, hairdressers, bookmakers, two bank agencies and two post offices were also in existence.
The first hydroelectric power station
in Victoria was established at Victoria Falls to provide power and light for the mine.
Of the reef mines, the Mt Hepburn and King Cassilis were the largest. The Mt Hepburn mine was an immense formation nearly a kilometre in length and as much as 15 metres wide. However the ore obtained was heavily mineralized, and gold was lost due to the lack of a smelting plant.
An extensive cyanide plant was constructed at King Cassilis mine about 1896, but was not a great success.
By the First World War
, most of the available gold was depleted, and both mines closed down. The town rapidly declined and by 1933 there were only 34 inhabitants. The 1939 bushfires
destroyed part of the town, and other buildings were taken away. Now Cassilis lies as a ghost town, with no commercial buildings in operation. Set in the 3,600-hectare Cassilis Historical Area, the mines are now a local tourist attraction with many relics of the gold mining era.
As of 2010, the population of Cassilis is growing due to the subdivision of farming land into rural allotments. There is a small winery,(Mt. Markey) on the former wine palace site in the centre of town.
It produces wine, mead, cider and beer and has a cellar door for free tastings.
More cider apples are being planted to expand the product range. Most of this produce is sold locally or at east Gippsland craft and farmers markets.
Ghost town
A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...
in Gippsland
Gippsland
Gippsland is a large rural region in Victoria, Australia. It begins immediately east of the suburbs of Melbourne and stretches to the New South Wales border, lying between the Great Dividing Range to the north and Bass Strait to the south...
, Victoria, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. It was named after a district and castle in Ayrshire
Ayrshire
Ayrshire is a registration county, and former administrative county in south-west Scotland, United Kingdom, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine. The town of Troon on the coast has hosted the British Open Golf Championship twice in the...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. In the late 19th century, at the peak of the gold boom
Gold rush
A gold rush is a period of feverish migration of workers to an area that has had a dramatic discovery of gold. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, and the United States, while smaller gold rushes took place elsewhere.In the 19th and early...
, it was a thriving mining centre and home to more than 500 people.
History
Gold-bearing quartz
Quartz
Quartz is the second-most-abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust, after feldspar. It is made up of a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall formula SiO2. There are many different varieties of quartz,...
reefs were discovered in 1885 at Long Gully, and by 1889 there was a battery in operation as well as a general store, butchery, bakery and Mechanics' Institute hall. A private school had already been operating when a government school commenced in the hall in 1890. The schools produced exceptional results, with pupils under headmaster McDonald gaining the highest percentage of scholarships in the State for several years. Two hotels, a coffee palace, hairdressers, bookmakers, two bank agencies and two post offices were also in existence.
The first hydroelectric power station
Hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...
in Victoria was established at Victoria Falls to provide power and light for the mine.
Of the reef mines, the Mt Hepburn and King Cassilis were the largest. The Mt Hepburn mine was an immense formation nearly a kilometre in length and as much as 15 metres wide. However the ore obtained was heavily mineralized, and gold was lost due to the lack of a smelting plant.
An extensive cyanide plant was constructed at King Cassilis mine about 1896, but was not a great success.
By the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, most of the available gold was depleted, and both mines closed down. The town rapidly declined and by 1933 there were only 34 inhabitants. The 1939 bushfires
Black Friday (1939)
The Black Friday fires of 13 January 1939, in Victoria, Australia, were considered one of the worst natural bushfires in the world, and certainly the single worst in Australian history as a measure of land affected...
destroyed part of the town, and other buildings were taken away. Now Cassilis lies as a ghost town, with no commercial buildings in operation. Set in the 3,600-hectare Cassilis Historical Area, the mines are now a local tourist attraction with many relics of the gold mining era.
As of 2010, the population of Cassilis is growing due to the subdivision of farming land into rural allotments. There is a small winery,(Mt. Markey) on the former wine palace site in the centre of town.
It produces wine, mead, cider and beer and has a cellar door for free tastings.
More cider apples are being planted to expand the product range. Most of this produce is sold locally or at east Gippsland craft and farmers markets.