Some older pictures today - of a place older yet. In winter last year I travelled to a small old mining town - Walhalla, in Gippsland Victoria. After the discovery of gold in the area in 1963, the place become a boomtown, which at one point supported 15 hotels and 2 breweries. Now the permanent population is twenty people.
The Long Tunnel Mining company closed in 1913, and given the disappearance of the town's largest industry, most people simply left. The arrival of rail in 1910 was simply to little, too late. The line would, ironically, see most use in shipping buildings out of Walhalla completely, and was itself dismantled and taken away in 1958.
The town continued to shrink in neglect until the early '80s, with the loss of many buildings to fire or general decay (in particular the Mechanics Institute and Star Hotel). At the time no-one saw fit to replace them.
The '90s would be better to Walhalla - the tourists came, along with electricity in 1998. The railway was reinstated, complete with a new replica railway station, which would be joined by the rebuilt Star hotel. These new buildings complement the old that remain, like the Band Rotunda from 1896, and Windsor House.
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| The "new" Star hotel |
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| And the original, which burnt down in 1951. |
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| Oldfellows hall: new |
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| Walhalla Township: 1910 |
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| Main Street Walhalla: 1910 |
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| Long Tunnel Mining Co: 1887 |
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| Walhalla Band Rotunda |
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| Windsor House Walhalla |
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| Walhalla Post Office |
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| Walhalla Fire Station: Restored 1965 |
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| Walhalla Fire Station: Restored 1965 |
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