Eildon

History

Eildon as a township came about due to the construction of the Sugarloaf Reservoir. The township of Darlingford (which was located near the junction of Big River and the Goulburn River) was established in the 1860s, when gold was discovered nearby, however when the construction of the reservoir commenced in 1915, which would ultimately flood the land behind the dam wall, including the township of Darlingford and Eildon Station (a run of 25,000 hectares owned by the Thoms). The town of Darlingford was moved closer to where the current township is now located. The Sugarloaf Dam was completed in 1929, and the original town of Darlingford is now completely underwater. Workers were brought into the town by the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission to work on the building of the reservoir, and the shanty town called Eildon began to develop. Many lived in tents. The original Sugarloaf Dam could only hold around 10% of the capacity of the current dam, and so construction of the Eildon Dam commenced in 1951 and was completed by 1956 to increase the size and capacity of the lake. The Sugarloaf Reservoir Dam Wall sits about 100 metres behind the current dam wall, and is visible when the water level drops very low. Around 4,000 workers were required to complete the 1950s construction, and these workers were brought in, but required housing. The new township of Eildon relocated to the present position, and comprises a series of 300 semi-permanent houses in 14 different styles. Materials for the houses were pre-cut and fabricated in England and assembled onsite. Temporary houses and hostels were built to accommodate more workers. If you drive around Eildon today, you will see many houses are still the original pre-fabricated houses erected for workers in the 1950s.

Most-observed species

• Australian Magpie

  Gymnorhina tibicen (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  1,105
• Crimson Rosella

  Platycercus elegans (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  1,010
• Red Wattlebird

  Anthochaera carunculata (Shaw, 1790) · Aves
  847
• Superb Fairywren

  Malurus cyaneus (Ellis, 1782) · Aves
  825
• Sulphur-crested Cockatoo

  Cacatua galerita (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  801
• Gray Fantail

  Rhipidura albiscapa Gould, 1840 · Aves
  797
• Laughing Kookaburra

  Dacelo novaeguineae (Hermann, 1783) · Aves
  738
• Pied Currawong

  Strepera graculina (Shaw, 1790) · Aves
  673

Most recent

• M 3.9 — 2024-08-06
  34 km SSW of Mount Buller, Australia
• M 4.4 — 2023-06-29
  34 km SSW of Mount Buller, Australia
• M 4.1 — 2021-09-21
  35 km SSW of Mount Buller, Australia
• M 5.9 — 2021-09-21
  39 km S of Mount Buller, Australia
• M 2.8 — 2015-03-10
  3 km NNE of Pakenham, Australia
• M 2.8 — 2014-01-13
  1 km SSE of Lilydale, Australia