Homebush, Victoria

Homebush was a goldmining town 10 kilometres (6 mi) from Avoca in central Victoria, Australia. The locality is within the Pyrenees Shire.
First settled in 1853 after a rush to a rich claim nearby, the town reached the height of its prosperity in the 1880s. But Homebush owed its existence entirely to the mines: when the gold ran out and the mines closed the town rapidly declined and died. All that remains of a once-flourishing community is a school building and some mullock heaps.
Planned development began in June 1860 when, following a second rush to the diggings, Homebush was surveyed and its streets laid out. Homebush Post Office opened on 1 October 1863 (closing in 1944). Three churches were built, and within little more than a decade. The town opened its railway station, homebush railway station. By 1884 Homebush was firmly established as a business centre, with two agents, a bootmaker, a butcher, two carpenters, two contractors, nine farmers, a gardener, a registrar...