| Walhalla heyday |
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Building a community
The Gippsland area was also developing, and the telegraph line from Melbourne had reached Sale to the east, known then as Flooding Creek, in 1864. The mail and passenger coach road from Melbourne to Sale followed soon after, in 1867. By October 1870 Walhalla's isolation was greatly reduced when it was connected by telegraph line to Sale also, and by 1880 a further line was in place from Walhalla to Woods Point, to the north-west of Walhalla. In June, 1873, a further sign of a more permanent community was observed when .8 ha (two acres) of land were gazetted on a steep hillside to the south of the town for use as the township's cemetery.
Graves in Walhalla's picturesque hillside cemetery A self-appointed "Council of Ten" sought registration as a Borough in 1869, but dissolved without the necessary public support for rating the town's properties before it could accomplish much more than commissioning the construction of the stone retaining wall that still stands today. It can be seen at the foot of the road that leads up into what remains of the suburb of Maiden Town, opposite the fire station and outside the corner store museum at the junction of the (western) "Left Hand Branch" and (eastern) "Right Hand Branch" of Stringer's Creek. |
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A Borough was eventually proclaimed in late 1872, and by 1878 was able to successfully agitate with the state government for the completion of the first section of the present "main" road from Moe. By the end of 1879, Walhalla had daily coach services connecting it to the railway line at Moe to the south and to Traralgon to the east, and its isolation had been considerably reduced. |
Walhalla heyday
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© 2003 Walhalla Heritage & Development League Inc. |
