Lake Hindmarsh
Historic commercial centre for the local wheat and wool industry.
Location: 340km north-west of Melbourne on the Henty Highway.
Origin of name: Derived from the Aboriginal term for 'place of big gums shading the water hole.' It was first recorded as the name of the state of the Scott brothers in 1878.
Brief history: The area was occupied by the Wotjobaluk Aborigines prior to white settlement. Squatters Robert and Andrew Scott established a grazing run on both sides of the Yarriambiack Creek in 1845. A shanty and a store were established on the banks of the creek in the late 1860s and the Commercial Hotel was opened in 1870 (it is still standing). The first buildings in the town were erected in 1870, the year local farmers began building a rabbit and dingo-proof fence along the 36th parallel. As was the case throughout the Wimmera and Mallee, grazing soon gave way to wheat-farming. The railway arrived in 1885 and the town became a municipality in 1891. An improved water supply saw increased wheat yields and a flour mill was built in 1894.
Natural features: Yarriambiack Creek; Lake Hindmarsh (Victoria's largest freshwater lake); Little Desert National Park; Lake Hindmarsh Reserve; Wyperfeld National Park
Built features: Wheatlands Agricultural Museum
Heritage features: Lock-Up (1873); Water Tower (1886); Commercial Hotel (c.1870); Warracknabeal Hotel (c.1890); Court House (1891)