Gaffneys Creek, Victoria

Infobox Australian Place | type = town
name = Gaffneys Creek
state = vic


caption =
lga = Shire of Mansfield
postcode = 3723
est =
pop =
elevation=
maxtemp =
mintemp =
rainfall =
stategov = Benalla
fedgov = Indi

Gaffneys Creek is a former mining locality situated between Jamieson and Woods Point in Victoria, Australia. It is located at the junction of Gaffney and Raspberry Creeks in a steep valley in mountainous terrain. It is situated in the Shire of Mansfield.

A prospector from the Big River area to the east, Terence “Red” Gaffney, was the first to actively search the area for gold, followed by two others who discovered alluvial gold at Raspberry Creek in 1859.Citation

last = Monash University Arts | title = gazetteer Gaffneys Creek | url = http://web.archive.org/web/20040212115642/www.arts.monash.edu.au/ncas/multimedia/gazetteer/list/gaffneyscreek.html | accessdate = 2008-04-11 ]

A string of small villages later appeared in the valley, and these were subsequently amalgamated and collectively named Lauraville by the Government Surveyor in honour of his wife, Laura. The Post Office (called Gaffneys Creek) opened on January 1, 1862 (closed in 1981). Citation

last = Premier Postal History | title = Post Office List | url = https://www.premierpostal.com/cgi-bin/wsProd.sh/Viewpocdwrapper.p?SortBy=VIC&country= | accessdate = 2008-04-11 ]

The name "Lauraville" was changed to Gaffneys Creek in 1900.

Alluvial mining was later replaced by reef mining, but none of these mines were to achieve the success of the nearby A1 Mine Settlement and by the turn of the century the population had dwindled.

In 1980 the area of the original valley settlements was placed on the Register of the National Estate as a Conservation Area including early miners' cottages, a hall, stone retaining walls and a hotel which succumbed to a fire in 1993.

The population within the locality has steadily declined over the years:

*1865: 1000
*1871: 502
*1911: 274
*1954: 91

Fire Problems

In 2006 Gaffneys Creek was threatened by bushfires. Not much of the town remains anymore except a couple of houses which survived. The whole area was burnt including A1 mine settlement and Ten Mile.

References

External links

* [http://web.archive.org/web/20040511092945/www.arts.monash.edu.au/ncas/multimedia/gazetteer/list/gaffneyscreek.html Australian Places: Gaffneys Creek]
* [http://www.ga.gov.au/bin/gazd01?rec=243313 Geoscience Australia place names: Gaffneys Creek]
* [http://libapp.sl.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/spydus/ENQ/PM/FULL1?388978,I Picman database: Photograph of Gaffneys Creek in 1900]