Petrol boxes and cans on display at the Chiltern Motor Museum

Magenta gold mine

An important historic town off the Hume Highway not far from the New South Wales border, Chiltern was first known as the township of Black Dog Creek, on the banks of which it stands. Overlander Joseph Hawdon apparently shot a black dingo here in the dried-up creek bed when passing through with John Hepburn in 1836. The following year, Joseph Slack took up the Barnawartha run which included the present day site of Chiltern, as well as most of the surrounding district.
A survey of townships in 1840 led to Black Dog appearing on maps of the time. By 1851, the town had a hotel, stable, mail offices and several cottages. It was given the name Chiltern around 1854, most likely after the Chiltern Hills in England.
A man thought to have taken part in the Eureka Stockade rebellion, John Conness, discovered gold here in 1858, while hiding out in the district. His claim was later challenged unsuccessfully, and Conness went on to form the Prospecting Association with the idea of finding new gold bearing leads. Chiltern gold was too deep for it to be successfully worked by individual miners or small syndicates. This did not deter small investors who formed companies to finance their reef mine ventures. A few people were lucky enough to do well, but most never saw their money again. When reef mining finally ceased, a former mine director, Dr. Charles Harkin, formed the Chiltern Vineyard Company in an attempt to find work for those displaced by mine closures. He first planted vines in 1910 at the southern end of town.
Buildings of note in Chiltern are the 1866 former Star Hotel, which has a grapevine planted in 1867, with a 155 centimetre circumference trunk, reputedly one of the largest in the world, in its courtyard, the Star Theatre, one of the few remaining examples of an 1860s gold rush theatre and Lakeview (1870), the house immortalised by the novelist, Henry Handel Richardson. She described the house in great detail in Ultima Thule, giving it the name Barambogie. Lakeview has been fully restored by the National Trust and is a fine example of the early brick buildings of north-eastern Victoria.
The 1870 Chiltern railway station was the model for many stations built in other parts of Victoria. It is noted for its brickwork and cast-iron drinking fountains. The town's old-world atmosphere qualified it as the location for a Walt Disney film, Ride a Wild Pony, in 1974.

The Athenaeum and library
Now a museum containing items of local interest. The building is painted in the original colours, with light blue walls and brown detailing. On the 31st May 1933, a Wirraway Aircraft, piloted by Francis Albert Robertson, landed on the roof of Sister Carter's Home in Epsom Rd, Chiltern. The pilot was lost and was trying to land. He did this successfully except he landed on the roof of a house. The full story and photographs are on display at the Athenaeum, along with the pilot's goggles, and the newspaper cuttings at the time.
John McEwen, the Prime Minister of Australia in 1967 was born and lived in Chiltern. He has presented to the Athenaeum Museum a large collection of his memorabilia, including his medals, and the bible on which he took oath. Sir Isaac Isaacs, Australia's first Governor General, made his maiden political speech in Chiltern at the Star Theatre. Sir Isaac presented a beautiful cedar Pedestal and Banner Stand to the Chiltern Miners Association in 1893. The stand has pride of place just inside the Athenaeum's front door

Lake View Homestead
Significant for its association with the distinguished Australian author Henry Handel Richardson (pseudonym for Ethel Richardson). Her early years in Chiltern featured in the classic novel, 'The Fortunes of Richard Mahony'. The single storey, six room, red brick bungalow built c.1870, is a National Trust property furnished in period style and contains a small collection of Richardson memorabilia.

Dow's Pharmacy
Built in 1859, the pharmacy remained open until 1968 and was operated by Hilda and Roy Dow from 1929. Operated as a museum, it contains many original shop fittings, records and pharmaceutical equipment. The extent to which retailing and the science of pharmacy and medicine have changed is well highlighted at Dow's Pharmacy.

Former Grape Vine (Star) Hotel and Star Theatre
This complex, built in 1859 by JA Wallace for the coaching firm, Crawford & Connelly, once comprised a hotel, theatre, billiard room and stables. The theatre, a simple rectangular hall with a stage at one end, was a major drawcard and focus of social life among the goldminers during the goldrush era.

The Federal Standard Printing Works
A single storey, brick structure, built about 1860, as the first printing office in this part of Victoria. It is also remembered for its string of strong-minded editors like George Mott and George Anderson, who helped shape resident's attitudes on local government in the district. Printing operations ceased in 1971, and the printing equipment in the refurbished building has been restored by enthusiasts. It is one of the few substantially intact provincial newspaper printeries remaining from the gold mining era.

Motor Museum
Located in the main street of Chiltern, behind the only garage or petrol station in the town, is a unique and extensive museum of petrol bowsers or pumps, and of vintage motor bikes, cars and petrol driven engines. Before 1910 petrol was sold in 2 gallon tins packed in wooden boxes. These tins and boxes are on display at the gadget shed at the Star Hotel Museum and in the Motor Museum. A company by the name of Bowser manufactured the first petrol pumps around 1910. The pumps were sold in such quantities that the expression for a petrol pump, or the nick name,  became known as a Bowser, and it is still so today. A 1910 Bowser pump is on display at the museum.

St Paul's Church of England
A Gothic church designed originally by Pickersgill, but completed by Rogers. It was built between 1870 and 1875 from local orange bricks with cream brick quoins. The design is based on an Irish church and features a tower that is square below and octagonal above, summounted by a stepped steeple. The ends of the main structure feature a series of lancet windows.

St Andrew's Presbyterian Church
Built in 1871-75 to a design by Smith & Houston, this small Gothic church is built in orange brick with cream quoins. The design includes a buttressed hall with small gabled porch and pinnacled octagonal bellcote on the main gable apex. The church stands at the end of an avenue of elm trees.

Gold Mines
The Magenta Gold Mine is located approximately 3 Km from Chiltern. It shows a large open cut section, a stepped section, and two now sealed shafts. There are BBQ and picnic facilities at the site. The Golden Bar Mine near the Cyanide Dam obtained 12,453 ounces of gold between 1901 and 1910. The Alliance Gold Mine is currently a Lake in the middle of Chiltern. Attrey's Reef is on the Take A Walk track at the Hume Highway Vehicle rest between Chiltern and Barnawartha on the "to Melbourne" side.

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