Timeline

• before 1839 Aboriginal people of the Wurundjeri clan lived in the area
  
• 1839 First selection of land by white settler, James Anderson
• 1851 Feb - serious bushfires on Black Thursday
• 1851 Gold found in Anderson’s Creek - first miners arrive at Anderson’s Creek - first gold licences in Victoria issued at Warrandyte
• 1855 Two stores started
• 1855 Warrandyte Cricket Club started
• 1856 Anderson’s Creek  School opened, run by Church of England
  
• 1856 First coffer dam over Yarra built behind old PO – stakes still visible at low water
• 1856 Punt across Yarra built
• 1856 Union hotel built, became Warrandyte Hotel – burned down 1925 – site of present Mechanics Institute
• 1857 First Post Office opened in a store
• 1857 First mail service to Melbourne began
• 1859 Geraghty's Mine started
• 1859 Mining started in Whipstick Gully area – closed 1923
• 1861 First bridge over Yarra opened (was at back of old PO)
• 1863 Big Floods washed away first bridge
• 1866 Cemetery established
• 1868 First steam-powered crushing battery behind old PO started - Grant’s
• 1870 Anderson’ Creek Hotel built, became Grand Hotel 1895
• 1870 Holloways Hotel built, closed 1900
• 1870 Marble Hall Hotel built – closed 1894
• 1870 Mullins Orchard opened in Black Flat area - near site by future Caledonia Mine) (closed 1917)
• 1870 Pound Bend Tunnel built – ceased operations in 1972
• 1874 Warrandyte’s largest nugget found, 100 oz
• 1875 New wooden bridge built
• 1875 Stone building of State School No 12 opened (remains to present)
• 1875 The original  building which existed at 111 Yarra St became the PO in 1889
  
• 1878 Discovery of Diorite Dykes in Black Flat area - Elliot Freehold Company formed – stamping crusher built
• 1879 Crown Company mine started to exploit Diorite Dykes – roof subsequently collapsed – area now used as a rubbish dump
• 1883 Warrandyte Railway station on Lilydale line renamed Croydon
• 1889 Huge Yarra floods washed away much of low-lying Warrandyte
• 1889 Vast Wonga Park grazing property opened up for sub-division
• 1889 PO opened at 111 Yarra St – closed 1972
• 1889 Box Hill to Doncaster electric tramway opened - closed 1896
  
• 1890 Proposal for railway from Kew to Doncaster via Outer Circle Railway, with extension to Templestowe
  
• 1890 Jan/Feb - thousands of hectares burnt north of Warrandyte, Kinglake-Christmas Hills
• 1891 Heidelberg School Artists’ Trail opened, now passes through Warrandyte along River Walk
• 1895 Grand Hotel opened, replaced former Anderson’s Creek Hotel
• 1895 Primary School opened in Warrandyte East – name changed to Wonga Park School in 1898
• 1896 Victory Mine started – good yields – closed 1904
• 1898 Water-powered privately owned battery owned by William Lewis - east of bridge - opened on south bank  – originally driven by waterwheel 2m wide 5m diameter then by portable steam engine  - closed 1925 – waterwheel left standing for several years

• 1900 Holloways Hotel closed
• 1900 Warrandyte Wine Hall hotel built – closed 1924 – became Folk Art Shop - 232 Yarra St
• 1902 Eight Hours Pioneer Settlement Post Office opened in Wonga Park – renamed Wonga Park PO in 1907
• 1904 Caledonia Mine started, off Tills Rd (now private property) – steam-powered and winch – closed 1909
• 1904 Victory Mine closed
• 1906 Warrandyte Football Club started (played at site next to Caledonia Mine,  Black Flat area)|
• 1908 Warrandyte Football Club moved to the new Anderson's Creek Recreation Reserve, where  is resides today
• 1909 Anderson’s Creek officially renamed Warrandyte
• 1909 Caledonia mine closed
• 1909 Warrandyte Battery trust formed – took over operation of Lewis’ battery

• 1910 Proposal for railway lone betwen Box Hill and Warrandyte
  
• 1912 First telephone exchange opened in front room of PO building - closed 1954 when automatic exchange opened at different site 
• 1913 January - bushfires burn several houses between Warrandyte and Ringwood
• 1917 Mullins Orchard  closed
• 1917 Husseys'  Coachlines started - Ringwood to Warrandyte (closed 1925)
  

• 1923 Whipstick Gully mining ends
  
• 1923 Proposal for railway line between Collingwood and Warrandyte, vika East Camberwell and Doncaster
  
• 1924 Warrandyte Wine Hall hotel closed – building still there near Bridge – now Folk Art Shop
• 1925 April - Warrandyte Hotel burned down
• 1925 Kew to Warrandyte railway line proposed – was to run via E. Kew, N. Kew, N. Camberwell, Doncaster, Templestowe  (following Outer Circle line to East Kew)
  
• 1925 Proposal for railway line from Templestowe to Yarra Glen, via Warrandyte
  
• 1925 Scouts camped on Yarra at Wonga Park
• 1925 Water-powered government battery east of bridge dismantled - Waterwheel left standing
• 1926 Soldiers Memorial built
• 1927 Feb – Warrandyte under threat from fires. Started in Queenstown (St. Andrews) - burnt within 2 km of Warrandyte township
• 1927 Mechanics Institute built on site of former Warrandyte Hotel

• 1930 Jan – significant bushfires
• 1930 Jan - New Year's Day Swimming Carnival on Yarra, behind old PO
• 1934 Big floods, Yarra water level topped old bridge
  
• 1935 Gold Memorial cairn unveiled on Anderson’s Creek (Gold Memorial Drive)
• 1936 Proposal for 180 hectares of bushland at Pound Bend for zoo to accommodate Platypuses and Koalas
• 1937 June - Yarra frozen over near Island backwater
• 1938 Warrandyte registered with the Bush Fire Brigade
• 1939 Jan 13 - Black Friday. Worst fires in the history of Victoria experienced. Driven by gale force winds, much of Warrandyte and Wonga Park destroyed – 50 homes lost

• 1940 Sep – first Youth Hostel in Australia opened in Warrandyte
• 1940 The large Yarra Brae property acquired by Lord Clifford – used during WW2 as army training area
• 1940 Whipstick Quarry opened – closed in 1950s
• 1942 Open air scout chapel at Blue Tongue Bend built
• 1943 Army operates wartime radio communication stations at Park Orchards and Coldstream
• 1945 Oct - Warrandyte Fire Brigade registered with Country Fire Authority
• 1948 World Scout Jamboree at Clifford Park – land made available by Lord Clifford

• 1950s Most vertical mine shafts filled in by Mines Dept
• 1953 Morton’s Goldmining Lease established, Upper Monument shafts dug, sited on south side of Fourth Hill above Gold Memorial Drive, closed 1965
• 1954 Automatic telephone exchange opened
• 1955 Dec – new bridge opened
• 1955 June - swimming pool proposed
• 1955 World Scout Jamboree at Clifford Park
• 1957 new telephone exchange opened

• 1961 Water Trust Reservoir built on Fourth next to fire tower
• 1961 World Rover Scout Moot at Clifford Park
• 1962 Jan - much of Warrandyte's bushland destroyed in fires
  
• 1965 Aug - 100 hectares bushland at Pound Bend to be acquired for Park
• 1965 Jan - serious bushfires
• 1965 Last goldmine dug - lease ended
• 1965 Mar - fires destroy 400 hectares in Warrandyte
• 1965 Upper Monument shafts closed
• 1969 Serious fires destroy much of Warrandyte, North Warrandyte and Wonga Park
• 1969 State Park proposed of 300 hectares

• 1972 Old PO closed – remained a caretaker's residence for several years
• 1972 Warrandyte Lions Club established
  
• 1973 Women officially registered for fire fighting duties
• 1973 Yarra Brae Dam announced
• 1973 State Park officially proclaimed
  
• 1974 Yarra Brae Dam proposal abandoned
• 1975 Pound Bend (West), Jumping Creek, Black Flat reserved for State Park
• 1977 First Warrandyte Festival held – now a popular annual event
• 1978 State Park extended
• 1978 Warrandyte High School opened

• 1981 Jan - new fire station built in Harris Gully Road
• 1981 Timber Reserve, Fourth Hill, and Common added to State Park
• 1982 Old PO building damaged by arson - restored by Lions’ Club – became Historical Society Museum in 1988
• 1983 Feb 16 - Ash Wednesday disastrous fires across Victoria. Five outbreaks in Warrandyte area
• 1984 Koornung and E. Pound Bend added to State Park
• 1986 Stane Brae and Yarra Brae added to State Park
• 1988 Historical Society Museum opened in restored PO building
• 1989 Old Wonga Park PO closed – reopened 1994 in current location
• 1989 Sep – commemorative plaque unveiled for YHA on Pound Bend Rd

• 1991 Significant fires in Pound Bend area
• 1994 Passing of Bruce Bence, noted local historian and writer (1928-1994)
• 1996 Bruce Bence Memorial Trail constructed, Whipstick Gully area
• 1997 Mt Lofty added to State Park
• 2009 Warrandyte Donvale Rotary Club formed