March 17, 2020 Published by Tegan Dawson

Self-guided history tour of Yallourn North

Congratulations you’re taking a self-guided history tour of Yallourn North, the Old Brown Coal Mine.

We recommend you start at the Old Brown Coal Mine Museum on 3rd Street, Yallourn North. The volunteers are amazing, and the excellent displays t. Only open on Sundays between 10 am – 4 pm. Check with them by dialling 03 5167 1046

Self-guided tour with the Haunted Hills podcast

2. History of the Brown Coal Mine

Starting location:

• Old Brown Coal Mine Museum is also known as the Yallourn North Historical and District Society (Third St, Yallourn North VIC 3825 geocode: -38.164324, 146.363994 longitude – latitude)
• Directions to the road to nowhere: cross the road, walk down to the left you’ll find the road to nowhere. If you can’t walk over uneven surfaces, people do drive cars down there, and it’s wide enough to fit it, you’ll see tire marks, there might even be a truck there. (Geo code, longitude – latitude, -38.164248, 146.365979)
  
• You only need to cross Third Street, Yallourn North to get to the road to nowhere. The road to nowhere is where Shop Street, Main Road and Second Street were. Very few trees were in the central part of town. This is the ghost town section. Here you can have a virtual self-guided history tour of the Brown Coal Mine through images from the State Library Victoria digital archive.

Continue the self-guided history tour of Yallourn North

•  Marshall Street named after a pioneer of the Brown Coal Mine. The house is still there.

• • From the end of Roxborough Avenue, you should be able to see Anderson Creek and the Harmony Hills. Imagine what it would have been like to live there when obscured by dense bush.
  • The Serbian Orthodox Church, North Road.
  • Kelso Road, the house was built by a pioneering family who came from Eastern Europe.
  • John Street has two stories, the Bakery built-in 1953 on the righthand side of the street behind the Yallourn North Hotel. The house built by a family discussed in the podcast is on the corner – please remember another private residence.

• Tom’s Bridge Road near the Latrobe River the area which the landslip which uncovered the coal discovered by Henry Godridge. There is also a camping ground near there as far as I know not haunted.
• The Skate Park and BMX track is the location of the North Camp
• Yallourn W Station is about the site of the Western Camp
• On Reserve Street and the corner of Old Latrobe River Road is about where the Meers Boarding house was.
• The East Camp was on the Latrobe River (East of the West Camp).
• The Catholic Church is on the corner of North Road and Reserve Street.

Other historical (ghost) buildings

The Brown Coal Mine school started in a white tent on the same location the school is today. The State school under Miss Jones’ management in 1918, had 20 children attending and after five weeks she had secured funds to put on a concert.

The Fire Station up until 1950 was on the school property near the location of the water tank, besides that was a mechanics then next door was the original location of the police station.

Historical building facts in Yallourn North

After the first world war nails were in short supply resulting in one building built without nails because they were in short supply. A two-story tin house also graced this second street.

Can’t get enough? For more history of the Brown Coal Mine

Brown Coal Mine

Brown Coal Mine Crime – Self Guided or Virtual Tour

Listen to the Haunted Hills Podcast