Heathcote

Heathcote pronunciation is a town in central Victoria, Australia, situated on the Northern Highway 110 kilometres north of Melbourne and 40 kilometres south-east of Bendigo via the McIvor Highway.

Heathcote pronunciationis a town in central Victoria, Australia, situated on the Northern Highway 110 kilometres north of Melbourne and 40 kilometres south-east of Bendigo via the McIvor Highway.Heathcote's local government area is the City of Greater Bendigo and it is part of the federal electorate of Bendigo and the state electorate of Euroa.At the 2016 census, Heathcote had a population of 2,793.

The first European known to have visited the district was Major Thomas Mitchell in 1836.By 1851 about 400 Europeans lived on some 16 pastoral properties in the area.

Late in 1852 gold was discovered at McIvor Creek.Within six months some 40,000 miners were camped in the vicinity.It proved to be one of the richest finds during the Australian gold rushes, but the gold was so easily found that it was soon largely exhausted and by the end of the year a large proportion of the miners had already left for other recent finds (although deeper deposits continued to be mined for many years).This was not before the Victorian government gazetted the township of Heathcote on the site and ordered the construction of several official buildings.The post office opened on 1 July 1853 as McIvor Creek but six months later, on 1 January 1854, was renamed Heathcote.With the decline of gold mining the region took on an increased importance as a pastoral district.

Heathcote was served by the Heathcote railway line from 1889 to 1968.The Heathcote Magistrates' Court closed on 1 January 1990.

Mia Mia was the location of a violent gold escort robbery on 20 July 1853. A gang of at least six robbers and possibly as large as twelve bailed up a gold escort that departed Heathcote on the way to Kyneton. The robbers opened fire on the six escorters in which four were wounded. The other two fled to Heathcote to raise the alarm. When help arrived they found that the robbers and the gold was gone. All the robbers were living in Heathcote at the time working the gold diggings. Later John Francis gave crown evidence against the others and three of the villains were hanged.

This took place very close to where one of Australia's worst aviation disasters occurred in 1945.

Heathcote is the closest major town to the Heathcote-Graytown National Park and Lake Eppalock.