What do we do?

Mount Evelyn History Group members are interested in the collection, preservation, research, writing and publication of all aspects of history relating to our town. We hold displays at local events and provide speakers and information on request. Our newsletter, Things Past, is published monthly.

Click here for the latest issue of our monthly newsletter Things Past

We hold committee meetings on the fourth Thursday evenings of even months at the Old Community Link, Wray Crescent, Mt Evelyn. In alternate months we meet at Mt Evelyn Station House on fourth Saturday afternoons. There are guest speakers on these occasions. Visitors are welcome at meetings and lectures.

View details of our next event 'Recording the Stories'  or
Click here to download flyer for our next event

The history of the History Group

An informal group of enthusiasts convened in the 1990s to produce a history of Mt Evelyn. This group amalgamated with the Mt Evelyn Environment Protection & Progress Association (MEEPPA) and functioned as a MEEPPA sub-committee for some years. Tracks to Trails: A History of Mt Evelyn was published in 1997 and the second (Centenary) Edition in 2001.

In October 2007 the decision was taken to re-establish the independent History Group. The Mount Evelyn History Group incorporated on 6th March 2008.

Click here to view our Aims

Our masthead photo

Can one picture sum up the history of a town, or capture the flavour of a whole era?

Our masthead photo shows Harold Schultz, ‘Mayor of Billygoat Hill’, and his extended family. Schultz is centre right (in flat cap), holding a spray of heath.

Schultz, a jeweller from Clifton Hill, had a holiday house in Mt Evelyn in the 1920s and 1930s. He organised community activities such as Christmas parties, cricket matches (where Billygoat Hill holiday makers took on Mt Evelyn locals) and yabbying competitions in the station dam.

The photo touches on many aspects of Mt Evelyn’s history: the colourful personalities; the distinct communities that made up the township; the weekend shacks and holiday visitors of the inter-war period; water supply or lack of it (the tank); the lure of the bush and the endearing dagginess of the town and the era.

History is many-faceted and no single account or picture can tell it all. But if one image could represent the Mt Evelyn story, this photo would have to be a contender. 

Want to find out more? Click here for our publication list

Aims of Mount Evelyn History Group Inc

1.To be an independent group whose sole focus is history.

2.To encourage a high standard of research, writing and history-related skills.

3.To encourage historical appreciation and activities in the community.

4.To maintain and catalogue a collection of historical information.

Publications available from Mount Evelyn History Group Inc.

Tracks to Trails: A History of Mt Evelyn (2nd Ed.) History of the Supermarket Site Gwen Hardy: a Tribute Aborigines in the Northern Dandenongs The First Selectors of Mt Evelyn Tourists, the Dam & Depression  1920s &1930s From Holiday to Home   WWII & 1950s The History of Guiding in Mt Evelyn The Mt Evelyn Aqueduct History of the Mt Evelyn Fire Brigade Naming Mt Evelyn Street Names of Mt Evelyn The Mt Evelyn Tennis Club The Hut at Mt Evelyn Christian School The Water Race History of the Melba Centre  1971-1997

$25.00 $2.00 $5.00 $5.00 $4.00 $6.00 $6.00 $3.00 $4.00 $5.00 $2.00 $4.00 $4.00 $2.00 $4.00 $2.00

Contact us

Postal address
P.O. Box 101 Mt Evelyn VIC 3796.  
Email
historygroup@mountevelyn.vic.au
                            
Enquiries, membership & book sales
Paula Herlihy (President), herlihy@alphalink.com.au
              
Newsletter
Karen Phillips (Secretary), karen.m.l.phillips@gmail.com

Click here to download our membership form (12k .pdf checked and clear of viruses)