Map - Hurstbridge, Victoria (Hurstbridge)

Hurstbridge (Hurstbridge)
Hurstbridge is a town in Victoria, Australia, 28 km north-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Shire of Nillumbik local government area. Hurstbridge recorded a population of 3,554 at the 2021 census.

Hurstbridge lies between Wattle Glen to the south, Arthur's Creek to the north, and Panton Hill to the east.

Before colonisation, the land around Hurstbridge was occupied by the Wurundjeri-Willam clan, the Aboriginal Australian people of the Woiwurrung language group. The Wurundjeri-Willam clan were part of the larger Kulin alliance. Hurstbridge was first settled by colonists in 1842 by Cornelius Haley, a grazier. The area was originally known as Upper Diamond Creek, or Allwood, after the homestead built there on Haley's selection. The town was renamed in 1924. The town's current name is from the Hurst family. Henry Hurst worked for Haley, and in 1857 was joined by his father Robert, mother, and siblings. The Hursts took over from Haley and built the first log bridge across the Diamond Creek, upstream from the present Monash Bridge, in 1858. In 1866, Henry Hurst was fatally wounded by a bushranger, Robert Bourke. The latter was captured and tied to a wheel of a wagon under a tree (now known as Bourke's Tree) until troopers from nearby Queenstown arrived. Bourke was tried and found guilty of the murder and was later hanged.

For many years the area was characterised by orchards and nurseries, and in 1912 a railway line was extended to Hurstbridge to transport fruit to Melbourne. As a result of this rail connection, a settlement started developing near the bridge. A post office was opened in 1912 and the current single-lane bridge, designed by Sir John Monash, was completed in 1918. The township was originally known as Hurst's Bridge until 1915, and then as Hurst Bridge until about 1954. Further development of the town occurred in the Post-War years, and electricity was connected in 1957.

The artist Albert Tucker moved to a 5 acre property in Hurstbridge in the 1960s, where he lived for many years. A series of paintings from the time depict the natural bushland around his property.

 
Map - Hurstbridge (Hurstbridge)
Country - Australia
Flag of Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of 7617930 km2, Australia is the largest country by area in Oceania and the world's sixth-largest country. Australia is the oldest, flattest, and driest inhabited continent, with the least fertile soils. It is a megadiverse country, and its size gives it a wide variety of landscapes and climates, with deserts in the centre, tropical rainforests in the north-east, and mountain ranges in the south-east.

The ancestors of Aboriginal Australians began arriving from south east Asia approximately 65,000 years ago, during the last ice age. Arriving by sea, they settled the continent and had formed approximately 250 distinct language groups by the time of European settlement, maintaining some of the longest known continuing artistic and religious traditions in the world. Australia's written history commenced with the European maritime exploration of Australia. The Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon was the first known European to reach Australia, in 1606. In 1770, the British explorer James Cook mapped and claimed the east coast of Australia for Great Britain, and the First Fleet of British ships arrived at Sydney in 1788 to establish the penal colony of New South Wales. The European population grew in subsequent decades, and by the end of the 1850s gold rush, most of the continent had been explored by European settlers and an additional five self-governing British colonies established. Democratic parliaments were gradually established through the 19th century, culminating with a vote for the federation of the six colonies and foundation of the Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January 1901. Australia has since maintained a stable liberal democratic political system and wealthy market economy.
Currency / Language  
ISO Currency Symbol Significant figures
AUD Australian dollar $ 2
ISO Language
EN English language
Neighbourhood - Country