Timeline 1839 to 1899
- 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 1872
- 1874 Warrandyte’s largest nugget found, 100 oz
- 1875 New wooden bridge built
- 1875 The original building which existed at 111 Yarra St became the PO in 1889
- 1875 Stone building of State School No 12 opened (remains to present)
- 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 Box Hill to Doncaster electric tramway opened - closed 1896
- 1889 Vast Wonga Park grazing property opened up for sub-division
- 1890 Proposal for railway from Kew to Warrandyte via Doncaster, 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
- 1893 PO opened at 111 Yarra St – closed 1972
- 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
1856 Anderson's Creek diggings, early etching
1858 Aboriginal camp on Yarra
1864 Yarra flooded - coffer dam under construction
1868 Grant's crushing battery, behing old PO
1870 Opening of Pound Bend Tunnel (Evelyn Tunnel
1890 Log cabin
1898 Deserted mine
1898 Old pumping shed
Images taken by the author during 2010, showing surviving structures, features, and buildings from the 1839-1899 era