Bald Hills, Victoria

Bald Hills is a locality in central Victoria, Australia, in the Hepburn Shire local government area, 107 kilometres (66 mi) west of the state capital, Melbourne, and 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) north of Ballarat.[2] The area is about 442 metres (1,450 ft) above sea level.[3]

Bald Hills
Victoria
The two Bald Hills
Bald Hills is located in Shire of Hepburn
Bald Hills
Bald Hills
Coordinates37.442°S 143.835°E / -37.442; 143.835
Population107 (2016 census)[1]
Postcode(s)3364
Location
LGA(s)Shire of Hepburn
State electorate(s)Ripon
Federal division(s)Ballarat

The area is dominated by large volcanic hills, including Mount Blowhard, Mount Pisgah, Mount Hollowback and Mount Cavern.[3] These hills gave the area its name:

These rounded mound-like hills are thickly dotted over the surface, at times there being fully a score of them in view at once. They are almost bare of trees, and have been named by the bushmen "bald hills."[4]

Balds Hills also at one time had a railway station on the still operating Ballarat - Creswick - Maryborough line (station now closed and no evidence exists) and several hotels (all closed).

Gold mining

The area was the site of several gold mines between 1860 and 1900, and there is still evidence of this mining activity. Some of the larger mines included the Ascot Extended Mines, the Dowling Forest No. 1 Mine and the Midas No. 1 Mine.[3] The Ballarat Star newspaper reported on the early days during a later gold-mining revival by the Bald Hills Quartz and Alluvial Company in 1880:

MINING REVIVAL AT BALD HILLS. The locality known as the Bald Hills is situated about seven miles north of Ballarat. For many years past there has been very little mining carried on there, a period of comparative quietude having succeeded the good old days when the Bald Hills Lead and its three tributaries, namely, the Havilah, the Princess, and the Red Streak, were yielding their rich stores to the miners. Then a group of companies, comprising the Prospectus, the Homeward Bound, the Sons of Justice, the Young Sons of Justice, the Morning Star, the Garibaldi, the Alliance, and several other companies, were all busily engaged in unearthing the precious metal.[5]

The Dowling Forest Mining Company reported to its shareholders in January 1885:

The Dowling Forest Estate comprises an area of 5680 acres, into which the celebrated Bald Hills and Sulky Gully leads have been traced with payable results. The No. 1 has also given reliable evidence of good ground existing in the vicinity. ... The gold has already been found on the No. 1, and a little improvement will make it payable.[6]

References
  1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Bald Hills (Vic) (State Suburb)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  2. Postcodes Australia: Postcode for Bald Hills, Victoria (near Ballarat) - Postcodes Australia, accessdate: 13 November 2016
  3. Bonzle Digital Atlas of Australia: Map of Bald Hills in Victoria - Bonzle Digital Atlas of Australia, accessdate: 13 November 2016
  4. "IN THE BALD-HILLS DISTRICT". The Australasian. Vol. XLI, no. 1057. Victoria, Australia. 3 July 1886. p. 10. Retrieved 13 November 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. "MINING REVIVAL AT BALD HILLS". The Ballarat Star. Vol. XXV, no. 104. Victoria, Australia. 1 May 1880. p. 3. Retrieved 13 November 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. "DOWLING FOREST NO. 1 COMPANY". The Ballarat Star. Vol. XXX, no. 15. Victoria, Australia. 19 January 1885. p. 4. Retrieved 13 November 2016 – via National Library of Australia.


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