#steiglitz

ABANDONED TOWNSHIP OF STEIGLITZ, VICTORIA. 1892/95

The township of Steiglitz once boasted a population approaching 2000 people. At the height of the Gold Rush in the 1860s it also had seven quartz crushers, four hotels, a newspaper, a variety of shops and even an undertaker. Today it is home to a mere handful.

The old town is about 85 kms west of Melbourne in the Brisbane ranges. It sits on the Steiglitz Road around 40 kms north of Geelong and 50 kms south of Ballarat.

BRIEF HISTORIC STORY…

The area is named for the von Steiglitz family: Pastoralists who came from Launceston, Tasmania to settle here in the late 1830s. They returned to Ireland in 1853, the year before gold was discovered.

A settlement of prospectors quickly grew as did the town infrastructure. By 1856 there was a Wesleyan chapel, a court house and Anglican, Catholic & Presbyterian schools. The borough council was proclaimed in 1865.

Mining activity gradually declined but was revived around the time of this shot, thanks to the introduction of new technology. Once again the population grew but ultimately the ore proved uneconomic and the town slid back.

The last hotel closed in 1917 and the last mine in 1941.

Steiglitz is today a popular bush-walking and picnic area.

This post is part of a series that charts the history of photography since the 1900s. The series takes a decade by decade look at how the skills a photographer needs have changed in light of technological, economic and societal change. The snapshot is born! By the late nineteenth century, photography had already switched from being a niche endeavour to something that was readily available to…