What are the opening hours?

Friday 10am - 3pm Saturday 10am - 3pm Sunday 10am - 3pm

Mansfield Historical Society

Name: Mansfield Historical Society
Address: 173 High Street, Mansfield, VIC, 3722, AU
Telephone: 0357791094

Home
Australia
Mansfield, VIC
Mansfield Historical Society

Call Directions Website Contact the museum

The Mansfield Historical Society is dedicated to preserving the history of Mansfield and surrounding

09/10/2026

Our History
Governor Carmichael’s visit to Mansfield, Victoria, Australia circa April 24 1911.
Photo donated by John Buckland. Photographer unknown

Information:
A crowd outside the Mansfield Shire Hall waiting for the arrival of the Governor, His Excellency Sir Thomas Gibson Carmichael. It was a red-letter day in the history of Mansfield as it was the first visit of a representative of his Majesty the King of England, George V. The town's people gathered at the Mansfield Railway Station to meet Sir Thomas, who arrived at 4pm on a special train. The streets had been lined with bunting and flags and after a street procession a large crowd gathered at the Shire Hall for a reception for his Excellency.

02/10/2026

OUR HISTORY

Blue Range Creek Hut, Bridge Creek, Victoria, Australia. Circa 1850s.

A typical example of early housing in the Mansfield district.

Photographer unknown.

25/09/2026

Our History

"Hauling Boiler to Main Reef." Maindample, Victoria, Australia. Circa 1913. Donor: R.W. Richardson. Photographer unknown.

Information:
Eight men and a team of 20 horses were used to haul the boiler along the Royal Town Road to the Main Reef gold mine.
The house in background was Alex Peers’.
Three lines included in the Main Reef lease were Anderson’s Reef, Main Reef and Hopetoun Reef. Between 1912-18 Main Reef Gold Mining Company were working Welcome claim with a winding plant, 11-head battery and cyanide plant. The mine closed and the plant and machinery were removed in 1918.
Gold was discovered in the area in 1867 and Maindample Reefs had a scattered population of 200 by September of that year. By February 1868 there were 600 residents. Two batteries were built near the creek, and a post office was established in April 1868. A police station was also established the same year.
At its peak as a mining town, Maindample had a population of almost 1,000. There was a school, several general stores and about twenty pubs and hotels. Kelson’s Royal Hotel offered “first-class restaurant meals at all hours,” and had a Cobb & Co booking office. Other pubs included Powel's Reefer's Hotel, the Pig and Whistle, the Royal Hotel and Mac's Hotel. The latter was destroyed by fire in 1894, rebuilt, and burned down again in 1904. The Bridge Inn Hotel was built in 1876.
Due to the proliferation of mine names like Prince Alfred, Prince of Wales, Empress, Royal George and Duke of Edinburgh, the settlement, about one mile south of present-day Maindample, was called Royal Town. Successful mining in the area was short-lived.

17/09/2026

Our History

Mansfield Railway Station Staff, Mansfield, Victoria, Australia Circa 1925. Photo donated by Lance Adams. Photographer unknown.

Information:
L-R: Unknown, Unknown, Unknown, William Alfred Brittain or Barker? (Station Master) & Unknown
In November 1883 a branch line from Tallarook reached Yea. "Yea was then supplied with a temporary station in the form of portable prefabricated buildings, which were later transported to Mansfield as the initial station buildings there, when the line was extended Northeast in the late 1880's." Lance Adams, retired engine driver from Mansfield / Alexandra line.
The first stage of the line was opened from Tallarook to Yea in 1883 and was extended in stages from 1889 through Molesworth, Cathkin, Merton and Maindample, finally in 1891. The line ran for 121km and provided interesting landmarks along the way, such as the Cheviot Tunnel near Yea and the viaduct over Lake Eildon at Bonnie Doon.
By the mid-1970s the line beyond Yea had deteriorated to such an extent that after March 1977, most of the passenger services were run by buses. The last regular train passenger service to Mansfield was on 28 May 1977, at which point a bus service via Yarra Glen took over. This was rerouted via Whittlesea after road upgrades had been carried out.

11/09/2026

Our History
Jas. McMillan's Store, Highett Street, Mansfield, Victoria, Australia Circa 1910. Donated by Robert Ross & Helen Gregory. Photographer unknown.

Information:
L-R: Frank Bedford, (Unknown), Patrick (Paddy) Byrne (seated,) Mr. James 'Jas' McMillan, Travelling Salesman, Roy Willis, Mary (Dox) Neely (Jas was Dox's father).
This building was originally owned by J.P. Nolan and built by him in 1891. James McMillan was the next owner in 1892, and it remained in the McMillan family until 1950. It then passed through several traders: Lester & Amelia Dalton - 1950, Cliff Coats & Ian Llewellyn – 1951, Len Parsons & James Murphy - 1955, Fred & Sandra Wintle – 1970, Betty & Berto Rekers – 1981, Michael & Jill Lanyon - 1983.
It had always been a general/grocery store until around 2000 when it became a motor bike shop. The shop is where the Coffee Merchant now trades.

09/09/2026

Our History:
Spectators at Mt. Buller Ski Championships, Victoria, Australia. Circa 1933. Donor John Anderson, photographer unknown.
Information:
The Ski Championships held at Mt Buller were instigated by the Ski Club of Victoria in 1926, with an international event held in 1937. The inaugural Interschools Championships, which were first held in 1958, was an Alpine Giant Slalom race between competitors from Melbourne Grammar School and Scotch College. It is now the largest snowsports event in the southern hemisphere, involving over 230 schools and includes 9 disciplines. Individuals competing in the interschools competition have gone on to being World Cup medalists, World Championships medalists, Winter Olympians and Paralympians.
In 1989 The Abom Mogul Challenge was established, putting Mt Buller on the international map for freestyle skiing. The FIS Freestyle Ski World Cup events for aerials and moguls have been held on Mt Buller from 1997 to 2005.

30/08/2026

OUR HISTORY:
Early Mansfield, Victoria, Australia Circa 1928
Donated by Margaret Forrest. Photographer unknown.

Information:

View of High Street, showing McKay's Shoe Store, E. Tulloch Solicitor, Watts and Turnbull Estate Agents, Kelson's Garage and Auction Mart, National Bank of Australia.

Annie Lamb (McKay) turned her Ladies & Children’s Wear shop into a boot shop. She ran her business from 1925 to 1956. Prior to this John Llewellyn had his chemist shop here.

Barrister & Solicitor, Eric W. Tulloch, bought his business from Mr Stodart in 1925. In 1923 a fire had started in the business next door and the front of Mr Stodart’s office was “considerably damaged, the wall having to be chopped away to get the massive safe out.” Reference: ‘High Street Traders of Mansfield 1854-2000’, Mansfield Historical Society.

Kelson’s premises was also damaged, and in the chaos, someone stole a r***e from the broken front window. Vincent Kelson owned one of the first cars in Mansfield and was a keen member of the Cycling Club. His business, which his father, Isaac Kelson, began in 1892, included a Motor Car and Cycle Warehouse, Insurance, Furniture and Linoleums, a Petrol & Benzine Depot and he was an Acetylene Gas Expert. He also had a Farm Implements Agency and sold Sheep Dip, besides being a Financial Agent, Auctioneer, Valuator and an Agent for G. Dawe, Monumental Sculptor.

The National Bank of Australia building was erected in 1923. G.H.D Tait, manager of the Bank, moved across the road into the new premises. The National Bank had previously purchased the Colonial Bank in 1918, which was operating in Cahn’s building almost opposite the new site.

Address

173 High Street
Mansfield, VIC
3722

Opening Hours

Friday	10am - 3pm
Saturday	10am - 3pm
Sunday	10am - 3pm

Telephone

0357791094

Website

http://mansfieldhistoricalsociety.com.au/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Mansfield Historical Society posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Museum

Send a message to Mansfield Historical Society:

Want your museum to be the top-listed museum in Mansfield?