Gordon is a small town in Victoria, Australia, named after settler George Gordon.
Gordon is a small town in Victoria, Australia, named after settler George Gordon. The town is located on the Old Melbourne Road in the Shire of Moorabool local government area, 95 kilometres (59 mi) west of the state capital, Melbourne. At the 2011 census, Gordon had a population of 1,151.
History
George Gordon settled the area in 1838 with a 30,000 acre stock farming run which was known to outsiders as "Gordons".During the Victorian gold rush it prospered due to being at the main road junction to the nearby goldfields of All Nation's Gully and Mount Egerton.Gold was discovered in the district in 1853 including around the town itself and several gold mining operations continued extracting in the subsequent decades.The fledgling town had many Irish Australian settlers and those not involved in mining or commerce took up agriculture, notably potato farming.The local Post Office opened on 1 July 1858 and was known as Gordon's until 1887.At the peak of its boom, the town had as many as eight hotels, with banks and several stores.The local railway station on the Melbourne - Ballarat railway opened in 1879 and closed in 1981.
With the cessation of commercial mining in 1910, the town began to decline.The railway was closed in 1981 and the Western Freeway was built, bypassing the township.
Since the 1990s, Gordon has experienced a revival due to the tree change phenomenon with its large semi-rural blocks, quiet rural aspect and driving proximity to Ballan, Ballarat and the railway to Melbourne. House and Land prices have soared during recent years, leading to Gordon being named in the top five of the Bulletproof suburbs nationwide in a recent study of real estate values.
Heritage listed sites
Gordon contains a number of heritage listed sites, including:
Gordon-Egerton Road, Gordon railway station
Portland Flat Road, Portland Flat Road Bridge
Weather
Things to do