| Elaine Victoria | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Railway Hotel at Elaine | |||||||||||||||
  Elaine | |||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 37°46′S144°01′E / 37.767°S 144.017°E | ||||||||||||||
| Population | 228 (2016 census) [1] | ||||||||||||||
| Postcode(s) | 3334 | ||||||||||||||
| Location | |||||||||||||||
| LGA(s) | Shire of Moorabool | ||||||||||||||
| State electorate(s) | Eureka | ||||||||||||||
| Federal division(s) | Ballarat | ||||||||||||||
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Elaine is a town in Victoria, Australia, located on the Midland Highway between Ballarat and Geelong. At the 2021 census, Elaine and the surrounding area had a population of 232. [1]
Elaine started out a minor gold rush district. Since the Steiglitz goldfield was discovered in 1854, gold mining had occurred in the area. [2]
The new Geelong–Ballarat railway line opened on 11 April 1862 and passed through the settlement. [3] [4] The train station only opened a decade after, [5] officially establishing the township as Elaine. [a] The later opening meant that Elaine did not receive a grand bluestone station like the original ones. [5]
At the time, Catholics and Free Presbyterians were the two main communities. A Catholic school opened in 1874, and a state primary school opened the following year. [6]
The railway was singled in 1934, [4] and now only grain and freight trains, which do not stop at Elaine, travel on it. [7] The Catholic school closed in the 1940s. When the state school closed in 1998 with twelve students, [6] community involvement declined. The football and tennis clubs were scrapped soon after, and the recreation reserve's courts and facilities fell into disrepair. Families began to leave the town. [7]
In 2010, after the reserve received a small government grant to build a barbecue area, residents were motivated to hold a meeting and see if they could revive the tennis club. The community helped raise funds and put in donations. Within six months of putting up an advertisement on the Midland Highway, the club had three junior teams and 35 sponsors. Children from nearby towns such as Meredith also came to play. [7] The club's success led to the introduction of Auskick and the cricket club's revival. [8]
Elaine is located in the Shire of Moorabool, a local government area of Victoria. Surrounded by farmland, [8] the town is situated on the Midland Highway between Ballarat and Geelong.
The Railway Hotel is a hotel and pub at 5280 Midland Highway. Built in 1874, the building was intermittently used as a hotel, a brothel, or both until it was given its current name in 1912. In December 1922, publican Henry Gray was put on trial for fatally shooting drunken customer Michael Fahey, who had attacked him with an axe, but was acquitted. [4] Locals, including the current publican, Bevley Townsend, tell a story that a murdered 19th-century miner, Lenny, has been reincarnated as the hotel's resident poltergeist. The station that was opposite the hotel has long been gone. [9] [b]
The Elaine Farmacy, a general store; and the Farmgate Shop, a farm shop recognised for its potatoes, are also located on the Midland Highway. [8] The Farmgate's owner, Mark Dunne, said that it was one of the first titles registered in Elaine on Cobb & Co.'s Geelong–Ballarat service. [11] Elaine Recreation Reserve hosts the town's sporting facilities and clubs. [7] There is also a public hall. [6]
As of 2014, Elaine had two churches. [6] Elaine is home to a Serbian Orthodox monastery with five monks and two nuns. [12]
Elaine had a population of 427 in the 1881 census and 434 in the 1911 census, but the number decreased in the following decades, with 184 in 1947 and 219 in 1961. [6]
Fyansford is a township on the western edge of Geelong, Victoria, Australia, named after Captain Foster Fyans who came to Geelong as a Police magistrate in October, 1837. It is located at the junction of the Barwon and Moorabool rivers. At the 2016 census, Fyansford had a population of 196.
Gheringhap is a rural township near Geelong, Victoria, Australia, located approximately 83 km southwest of Melbourne, between Geelong and Meredith on the Midland Highway. Gheringhap is located in the Golden Plains Shire.
Bannockburn is a town near Geelong, Victoria, Australia, 88 km southwest of Melbourne. It is located in Golden Plains Shire. In the 2021 census, Bannockburn had a population of 6,470.
Bacchus Marsh is a peri-urban town in Victoria, Australia located approximately 50 kilometres (30 mi) north-west of the state capital Melbourne, at a near equidistance to the major cities of Melbourne, Ballarat and Geelong.
Meredith is a town in Victoria, Australia, located on the Midland Highway between Ballarat and Geelong, in the local government area of the Golden Plains Shire. At the 2021 census, Meredith had a population of 821, an increase from the 788 at the 2016 census
Lethbridge is a rural township outside Geelong, Victoria, Australia. Bluestone from Lethbridge quarries was used to build several significant buildings in Melbourne, including the steps to the Parliament House. At the 2016 census, Lethbridge had a population of 1,014.
The Moorabool River is a river in Victoria, Australia, which runs for 160 kilometres through several small towns such as Meredith, Anakie, and Staughton Vale. It runs into the Barwon River at Fyansford. It is believed that the name Moorabool derives from an Aboriginal word meaning the cry of a curlew or a ghost.
Buninyong is a town 11 km from Ballarat in Victoria, Australia. The town is on the Midland Highway, south of Ballarat on the road to Geelong.
Midland Highway is a major rural highway linking major towns in Victoria, beginning from Geelong and winding through country Victoria in a large arc through the cities of Ballarat, Bendigo and Shepparton, eventually reaching Mansfield at the foothills of the Victorian Alps.
Batesford is a town located approximately 10 kilometres west of Geelong and 67 kilometres south-west of the state capital, Melbourne.
Ballan is a town in Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Ballan had a population of 3,392.
Newlyn is a town in the Shire of Hepburn, in Victoria, Australia. It is situated on the Midland Highway between Creswick and Daylesford. At the 2021 census, Newlyn had a population of 136.
Gordon is a town in Victoria, Australia, named after settler George Gordon. The town is located on the Old Melbourne Road in the Shire of Moorabool local government area, 95 kilometres (59 mi) west of the state capital, Melbourne. At the 2021 census, Gordon had a population of 1,393.
Mount Egerton is a town in Victoria, Australia. It is located on the mountain by the same name in the Shire of Moorabool local government area, 97 kilometres (60 mi) north west of the state capital, Melbourne. At the 2016 census, Mount Egerton had a population of 582.
The Geelong–Ballarat railway line is a broad-gauge railway in western Victoria, Australia between the cities of Geelong and Ballarat. Towns on the route include Bannockburn, Lethbridge, Meredith, Elaine and Lal Lal. Major traffic includes general freight from the Mildura line, and grain.
Lal Lal is a town in Victoria (Australia), Australia. The town is located in the Shire of Moorabool and on the Geelong-Ballarat railway line, 108 kilometres (67 mi) west of the state capital, Melbourne. At the 2016 census, Lal Lal and the surrounding area had a population of 476.
Moorabool is a bounded rural locality of the City of Greater Geelong local government area in Victoria, Australia.
Millbrook is a locality in the state of Victoria, Australia, located 90 kilometres (56 mi) north west of Melbourne. It was formerly called "Moorabool" but the name was changed to avoid confusion with a locality near Geelong. The name "Millbrook" was adopted because of a flour mill erected by Matthew Butterly on the West Moorabool creek. At the time of the 2016 census, Millbrook had a population of 156 down from 550 in 2006, partly reflecting changing boundaries. The soil is volcanic and well-adapted to cereals, potatoes and grazing. The landscape is undulating and preserves remnants of the original open forest. The West Moorabool creek runs through the district. The earliest inhabitants of the area were the Wathaurong, and the Irish were prominent among its European settlers in the mid-19th century.
Mount Moriac is a rural locality in the Surf Coast Shire, Victoria, Australia. In the 2016 census, Mount Moriac had a population of 240 people.
Yendon is a locality in Victoria, Australia. The town is located in the Shire of Moorabool, 108 kilometres (67 mi) west of the state capital, Melbourne and approximately 13 kilometres (8 mi) south-east of Ballarat. The town was originally called Buninyong East, but was changed in 1879 to Yendon, believed to be an Indigenous Australian word meaning "waterhole".
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