 |
Mountjoy's coach entering Lorne after the trip from Deans Marsh. |
|
Incorporation A0018422F Established 1968 "Where the blue gums meet Louttit Bay and The Great Ocean Road" |
|
Meetings held monthly. For further information contact
the Secretary on (03) 5243 1249 |
| Objectives
Our Historical Society was established in 1968, for the preservation of local history relating to Lorne and surrounding areas. Since that time a vast amount of information has been compiled by volunteer members. We are a non profit organisation dedicated to preserving History and Heritage. Our Museum has 2200 A3 enlarged photos. 300 of these covering the township's history are on display. Also available are books covering the History of Lorne, nearby and coastal shipwrecks, The Great Ocean Road, and Churches. Information by request on Residents list, updated Cemetery records (compiled by our Members), School roll and early district history. Early sale notices and subdivisional maps. |
| History
Historically, we cannot find any data earlier than 1846, when Assistant-Surveyor Smythe examined the coast from Point Urquant to Cape Otway. This was in May and the name Louttit Bay appears as early as September in the same year. Attention was drawn to Louttit Bay by about 1850 when it became a port for the timber trade. At the mouth of the Erskine River there is a grave which dates back to January, 1850; this holds the bodies of two children who were suffocated by a fall of sand after building a tunnel in the river bank. The first settler came in 1853, one Hird, who held the the district for a cattle run. After him came Asplin and Short followed by the Mountjoys who were the last to take over the run in 1860's. In 1871 the year Princess Louise (daughter of Queen Victoria) married the Marquis of Lorne, was somewhat exclusive, but of later years better facilities for travelling, combined with the compelling beauty of the place have made it the first choice amongst holiday resorts of Victoria. For up-to-date Hotels and Boarding Houses it can hold its own with any town in the State and every class can be suitably supplied with accommodation to suit their means. Artists and Squatter, Artisan and Business man, Poet and Peasant, Politician and Professor, all alike enjoy this "Boundless Store of Charms which Nature to her votary yields". Lorne today has strong historical links with the Victorian period, when despite transport problems it was making its name as an early resort town. A small freestone State School (1879); two Churches dating from 1880 and 1892; and the 1892 bridge over the Erskine River, provide physical evidence of the township of those days. In the year 2000 Lorne is now a thriving tourist town
on The Great Ocean Road with world class convention facilities and numerous
style accommodation with its Mediterranean feel and picture-postcard scenery,
Lorne is a destination that will have you coming back for more.
|
|
Mountjoy's coach entering Lorne after the trip from Deans Marsh. |
| Swingbridge over Erskine river, constructed in 1937. |  |
 |
Early local transport once used for scenic trips to various waterfalls |
| Glimpse of Lorne beach through "Scotchmans Hill" blue gums. |  |
Reproductions of most of our photo's can be ordered.
Jean Graham 03 5243 1249
Links