Shepparton History & Heritage Touring Route
Explore Greater Shepparton's history and heritage attractions and places of interest by using these tools - you can take a self-guided touring route, or pick and choose points that interest you and explore at your leisure.
This guide is designed for visitors to follow as a self-guided touring route, or to pick and choose points of interest according to their own plans and time available. It takes the form of an online Google Map and accompanying list of suggestions in PDF format.
General opening times are shown where applicable, public holidays may differ.
Follow as a self-guided touring route or explore individual points of interest at your leisure. The entire route measures 190km. General opening times are shown, public holidays may differ. Any admission fees indicated with $.
Guide:
Greater Shepparton Visitor Centre
33 Nixon Street, Shepparton. Phone: (03) 5832 9330
Daily 9 00am to 5 00pm (closed Christmas Day)
Meet the Visitor Experience Enthusiasts who will happily provide you with more detailed maps and tourism publications, tell you about changes to road conditions, operating times of businesses on this route and any special events happening during your visit.
William Cooper Memorial Statue
Queens Gardens, Nixon Street, Wyndham and Welsford Street
William Cooper was a Yorta Yorta man born in 1860. He dedicated his time to helping not only his local community, but the wider Aboriginal community across Australia. He established the Australian Aborigines' League, the National Day of Mourning and is recognised as the Father of National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC). The statue depicts Uncle William holding a petition defending the human rights of Jewish people which was presented to the German Consulate in December 1938, as an act of protest against the persecution of Jewish people by Nazi Germany.
Welsford Street Shepparton
Welsford Street contains many features from Shepparton's earliest years. To explore this precinct in-depth, join a free guided walk conducted by the Greater Shepparton Visitor Centre.
Shepparton Art Museum - SAM
80 Welsford Street.
Phone: (03) 5832 9861. Daily 10.00am to 4.00pm
Sir John Longstaff was instrumental in establishing Shepparton's initial collection in 1936 with a 50 pound grant. Renowned for its collection of Australian Ceramics including works by first convict potters, and paintings by Perceval, McCubbin and Streeton.
Joseph Furphy Memorial
Weisford Street, between High and Fryers Street.
Commemorates author Joseph Furphy who worked in his brother's foundry by day and wrote at this spot at night. Some say his novel "Such Is Life" (written in the 1890s) is the best prose work by an Australian writer, excelling Patrick White or Henry Lawson.
Shepparton Heritage Centre
154 Welsford Street Shepparton
Phone: Geoff Allemand 0459 215 205 Tuesday to Saturday 12pm - 5pm Price: Adults $5 Children $3
Based around Shepparton's oldest standing building (1873). Features donated items including 16th Century Baronial Chair, 1929 Fire Engine, 1860 wedding dress, colonial four-poster bed and restored clock from Shepparton's 1882 Post Office. Incorporates the Lost Shepparton Shop.
Note: Outdoor displays can be accessed 24/7, including a Furphy Water Cart and Shepparton's historic wharf.
Victoria Park Lake
Wyndham Street, Shepparton
Through the years the Lake has been a focal point of community life. Walking tracks, bike paths, skate park table tennis playgrounds and boating facilities. Adjacent is Aquamoves health and fitness centre with indoor and outdoor pools.
(former) Wanganui Homestead (Not open to the public)
William Orr Campus, Wanganui Road, Shepparton
The present homestead and coach house were erected c1900 using local bricks. Today houses offices for William Orr Campus, Goulbum Ovens TAFE.
Hurlstone Homestead
Ford Road, Shepparton
Phone: (03) 5821 0121. By appointment only. $
Once belonged to Ford family and one of the first directors of SPC; regularly hosts weddings, special events & garden open days.
Dookie
New Dookie Road -> Mary Street, Dookie
The district was surveyed in 1859 taking in the Emu Plains pastoral run. Local lore has it that Mrs Turnbull, wife of the station's proprietor, was unhappy at the prospect of farm subdivision so the surveyor suggested a place name derived from the Singhalese word duka, meaning sorrow (the wife had lived in Ceylon). Duka was re-spelt Dookie. A large vineyard, one of over thirty in the district that delivered 33% of Victoria's wine production, was named Chateau Dookie comprised over 200 hectares of vines, large wine cellar and distillery. Declined from 1910 after vine diseases and a decline in the industry.
CWA Gardens
Mary Street, Dookie
The Gardens were established in 1937 by the Country Women's Association.
Dookie Emporium & Cafe
48 Mary Street, Dookie
Phone: (03) 5828 6224
Friday to Sunday 9am to 5pm
Housed in the iconic former Dookie Major Cooperative Society building - browse the range of vintage goods and local art.
Gladstone Hotel
44 Mary Street, Dookie
Phone: (03) 5828 6237
An historic and iconic local hotel dating to late 1880's
Dookie Rail Trail
Saddleback/Dookie Road
The branch line to Katamatite was constructed in 1890, closed in 1986. The rail trail was completed in early 2010. (The branch line from Shepparton to Dookie is still used by grain trains).
St Mary's Catholic Church
93 Saddleback Road, Dookie
1898
Cashel detour (optional - gravel roads)
The township of Cashel predated Dookie as the prominent town of the district but the arrival of the railway at Dookie was the beginning of the end for Cashel. Once a town of 5 pubs, little remains other than a former bank building (now private residence) and interpretative board giving glimpses to the past.
Dookie College
Dookie-Nalinga Road, Dookie
The University of Melbourne's Dookie campus is Victoria's oldest and Australia's second oldest agricultural college, home to several significant buildings including the winery and library.
Shepparton Motor Museum & The Furphy Museum
Emerald Bank Leisure Land, Goulburn Valley Highway. Kialla
Phone (03) 5823 5833 Daily 10am to 4:30pm $
Established in 2011, the motor museum houses over 70 classic, vintage and veteran cars and motorbikes as well as motoring memorabilia. The Furphy Museum is the only museum of its type in the world and explores 150 years of history of the Furphy brand. Explore the recreated Furphy Foundry, the Blacksmith's Shop, Furphy Water Carts and more!
Toolamba Bridge and township
Enter Toolamba from the east crossing the Goulburn River via a beautiful, historic single-lane wooden bridge c1890 (n.b. weight limits apply). The Goulburn Valley railway line opened in 1880, with Toolamba the junction with the Echuca Line, hence the "Junction Hotel" still operating as a traditional country pub today.
Murchison
The first town established in the Lower Goulburn Valley (surveyed in 1854), and site of an Aboriginal Protectorate from 1840 to 1850. In the early 1850s became a river crossing used by gold miners traveling between Bendigo and Beechworth. The town grew with the river trade (first paddle steamer in 1875). Between 1941 and 1947, 4000 German and Italian POWs were interned at Murchison.
Murchison Heritage Centre
4 Stevenson Street, Murchison
Phone 0475 018 743 Groups by appointment.
Saturday 10am to 12:30pm (closed winter months) $
The varied and surprising history of Murchison district is represented in a growing collection of documents and historical items housed in the Heritage Centre.
Meteorite Park
A spectacular event in the town's history was a meteor shower in 1969 when fragments of the rarest known type of meteorite fell over a wide area. An American analyst discovered five chemical components found in the genes of all living matter, increasing the possibility of life elsewhere in the universe. A range of news cuttings from the event can be viewed on the information boards, and a good specimen of the Murchison meteorite can be viewed in the Murchison Heritage Centre.
Thornebridge
10 High Road, Murchison
Phone: 0468 966 209 or 0427 262 076
For tours & high teas go to www.thornebridge.com.au/tours $
Heritage listed Thornebridge sitting gracefully on the banks of the Goulburn River was built in 1868 by Henry Thorne as a Commercial Travellers Inn. It was originally known as Thornes Bridge Hotel and Store but was renamed Gregory's Bridge Hotel and Store in 1895 which stuck despite many other owners until she was delicensed in 1969. Today Thomebridge has been transformed into historic luxury accommodation.
Aboriginal Protectorate
Cnr Stevenson & Willoughby Streets
An interpretative shelter at the site of the former Goulburn River Central Station Aboriginal Protectorate (1840 to 1853), one of only four protectorate stations set up in Victoria, later used as camping spat for bullock teamsters and for police horse agistment (Police Paddocks).
Murchison Cemetery
Murchison's cemetery is significant for two features: a grave mounted with the breastplate of King Charles Tattambo tribal leader of the Molka subgroup of the Ngooraialum Tribe who expressed a desire to be buried in a box like a white man; the Italian Ossario, holds the remains of Italian WW2 POW's and detainees who died in prison camps across Australia.
Day's Mill (Special event openings only)
Day's Mill and Farm is the best preserved 19th century flour mill in Victoria and contains probably the finest example of traditional milling technology in working form in its original setting in Australia. In 1865 William Day built a two story flour mill. Parts of the house date from 1865, but the two storey house was added in about 1905. The property is now in the hands of Parks Victoria and hosts occasional events.
Dhurringile Mansion
Murchison-Tatura Road, Dhurringile
N.B. Viewing from road only - minimum security prison with no access to the general public. No photos.
Built in 1877 for James Winter 'Dhurringile" was among the largest rural homes in Australia (65 rooms). From 1907 the mansion has had a chequered history. It was used as a POW camp to detain German officers in World War II. After the war it became a Presbyterian Church boys' home for English and Scottish orphans and since 1965 when the Victorian Government purchased it to use as a minimum security prison.
Tatura
Tatura was declared a town in 1874 and was the centre of the former Rodney Shire from 1886-1994.
Irrigation and Wartime Camps Museum
49 Hogan Street, Tatura
Phone: (03) 5824 2111
Monday - Friday 1.00pm to 3.00pm. By appointment. Saturday - Sunday 2pm to 4pm $
Explore the history of Tatura and District including the Goulburn Valley irrigation and the unique history of seven WWII internment and POW camps as well as local and family history. Not the average small town museum: the collection includes ONLY items which have a connection to Tatura.
Historic Hogan Street
Take a stroll along Hogan Street and discover some beautiful historic buildings, including homes, churches, Victory Hall, the band rotunda, town clock, hotels, Robert Mactier V.C. Memorial Gardens, Wilson Memorial, court house, and more.
Byrneside
Midland Highway
Byrneside Hall c 1894 and church c 1878 (private home) which was previously located at Graytown.
Merrigum
Merrigum Post Office opened on 1 February 1875.
Merrigum District Historical and Educational Society
111-113 Waverley Ave, Merrigum Phone: (03) 5855 2330
Last Sunday of the month 1.00pm-3.00pm. By appointment.
Built in 1905 as a General Store and residence, the Museum houses items from local organisations, farming equipment and items of general interest as well as extensive collection of photographs by L Pitts recording the life of Merrigum between 1900 and 1928.
Ardmona
Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Lenne Road, 1914.
Mooroopna
Mooroopna became a centre for local commerce especially after the beginning of irrigation from the early 1880's. The first school and bank were opened in 1874, the punt in 1875, the Hospital in 1876 and the railway in 1880. It its early days was actually the larger of the two adjacent towns Shepparton and Mooroopna.
McLennan Street
Take a stroll to discover indicators of Mooroopna's past including the Flour mill (1872), Ardmona Cannery (1921), War Memorial (1928), original water tower (1886) and the Jack Findlay Memorial. To explore this precinct in more depth, join a guided walk conducted by Greater Shepparton Visitor Centre.
Mooroopna Museum
30 Park Street, Mooroopna. Phone: (03) 5825 3458
Sunday 1.30pm to 4.00pm. Wednesday 11.00am to 3.00pm Groups by appointment $
Local history including the history of Ardmona Foods Ltd and McLennan's Flour Mill, two major employers in the town. Extensive collection of local family histories, artefacts of early Mooroopna, early newspapers, etc. A hospital and medical museum of regional significance, it includes the history of the unique direct blood transfusion service established during the Second World War.
Aboriginal History Walk
Begin at the east end of McLennan St (Chinaman's Gardens) - follow the interpretive signs depicting Yorta Yorta families associations with this area, especially following the 1939 Cummerangunja "Walk Off".
Web Links
→ Many Great Things Publication - History & Heritage (PDF)
