The Bendigo Talking Tram in Bendigo, VictoriaSource: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bendigo_talking_tram.jpg
Author: Robert Merkel
Bendigo is a city in the central inland part of Victoria, Australia. It is close to the geographic center of the state. Bendigo has a population of 92,000 people (2012 estimate), making it the second largest inland city in Victoria and the fourth most populous in the state. The City of Greater Bendigo is a metropolitan area covering both the urban and outlying parts of Bendigo.
Until the arrival of Europeans, the Bendigo area was inhabited by the Dja Dja Wrung tribe of indigenous people. The first European to pass through the area was Major Thomas Mitchell in 1836. In his wake came squatters who established sheep runs in the area.
Bendigo Fire StationSource: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BendigoFireStation.JPG
Author: Mattinbgn
The discovery of gold in Bendigo was made by two women, Margaret Kennedy and Julia Farrell in 1851. When this is reported in the newspapers in Melbourne, it sparked a gold rush. There was an influx of Chinese miners to the area, creating a large Chinatown that still exists in Bendigo. Many of the Europeans in Bendigo trace their ancestry to Cornwall. This is so because in the 1880s, over 40% of the people there had either a father or mother born there.
The name Bendigo comes from the Bendigo Creek, which in turn was named after Nottingham prize-fighter William Abednego Thompson, popularly known as Bendigo Thompson. The city grew quickly out of the gold rush. This is reflected in its many magnificent 19th buildings, particularly those built in the 1870s, many of which are still standing today.
Visiting Bendigo
From Melbourne take the M79 until Ravenswood South, where it continues as the A79/A300 to reach Bendigo.
Places of Interest in Bendigo
- Bendigo Law Courts
Historic building in the Second Empire style erected in 1892-96. - Bendigo Town Hall
Historic building traces its history to 1859. Present structure was built in 1883-85. - Bendigo Tramway Museum
Museum housed in the Bendigo Tram Sheds and Power Station built in 1903. - Golden Dragon Museum
Ethnic museum of the history of Chinese people in Bendigo. It is located at the site of Bendigo's original Chinatown and includes a temple dedicated to Kuan Yin. - Joss House
Historic Chinese folk temple with history going back to the 1860s.
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