Steiglitz - Culture and History

The first European settlers were the squatters Charles and Robert von Steiglitz who established a run in 1847. Alluvial gold was found on their property in 1853 by Andrew Love, the son of Geelong's first resident clergyman. However, a gold rush did not occur until a rich reef was discovered on Sutherland Creek in 1855. There were soon 2000 people on-site. By 1856 alluvial mining had ceased and quartz-crushing batteries were hard at work.

The population temporarily declined in the late 1850s but mechanised mining in the 1860s reinvigorated interest and profits. Quartz reefs were exploited all over the district in the 1860s and 1870s but returns diminished in the late 1870s and the population again declined to a few hundred.

Mining recommenced in the 1890s, largely to reprocess the old tailings with new cyanide technology. This temporarily reinvigorated the town with the population again surging to 2000. However, returns proved disappointing and commercial activity was already in decline by 1896. Many of the buildings were sold off and the population was down to 300 in 1900. A little mining continued in the 20th century but it ceased altogether in 1941. The school closed in 1958 and the post office in 1966, by which time the population was down to 13.

As the last residents departed the town was in a parlous condition with buildings and roads decaying. The National Parks Service took control of the courthouse in 1977 and has since bought up all of the land on which Steiglitz stood, preserving the relics that remain. Rather than using the site to recreate a contemporary gold town, as at Sovereign Hill (see entry on Ballarat), Steiglitz Historic Park was conceived as a complimentary example of what happens when the gold runs out and there is nothing else to keep the population.