Located at the entrance to Port Phillip Bay, Queenscliff has been a major commercial fishing centre since the 1850s. The town and its twin settlement, Point Lonsdale, which is 5km to the west, are busy tourist resorts. Queenscliff is connected by two car and passenger ferries to Sorrento.
Location: Map
Origin of name: The area was named Whale Head in 1836 but was soon renamed Shortland Bluff after a midshipman on the vessel which carried out an early official survey of Port Phillip Bay. A lighthouse was erected at Shortland Bluff in 1842 or 1843. Land sales proceeded in 1853 at which time Gov. Charles Joseph La Trobe renamed the townsite Queenscliff in honour of Queen Victoria. The geographical feature, Point Lonsdale, was named in 1837 after Captain William Lonsdale, the first police magistrate of Port Phillip.
Brief history: Shortland Bluff was established as a pilot station in 1838 to escort ships through the Rip at the entrance to Port Phillip Bay. The town emerged in the early 1850s. A signal station was established at Point Lonsdale in 1854. Little development occurred at Point Lonsdale until the first land sales proceeded in 1876. In the early 20th century, a shell-processing works was established at the southern end of Lake Victoria, just west of Point Lonsdale.
Natural features: Port Phillip Bay; Bellarine Peninsula; Point Lonsdale, the western headland at the entrance to Port Phillip Bay; Bass Strait
Built features: Point Lonsdale lighthouse (1902); Black Lighthouse (1862); White Lighthouse (1862); Marine Studies Centre; vehicle ferry to Mornington Peninsula; Queenscliff Maritime Centre and Museum.
Heritage features: Fort Queenscliff (1882) on Shortland's Bluff, was built to protect Melbourne against attack during the Crimean War. It now houses the Australian Army Command and Fort Queenscliff Museum; Bellarine Peninsula Railway; Buckley's Cave where escaped convict William Buckley lived among the Aborigines.