Ararat, Victoria: History
Prior to the European settlement of Australia, Ararat was inhabited by the Djab wurrung group of Aboriginal Australian people. The area encompassing Ararat has many Djabwurrung language placenames; 'Karangajaruk' refers to 'the valley in which Cathcart and the Ararat (gold) diggings lie', 'Warrayatkin' refers to Green Hill Lake, 'Butingitch' refers to the Ararat town site, 'Gorambeep barak' refers to Mount Ararat, and 'Pandort' refers to a large waterhole to the south.
Europeans first settled in the Grampians region in the 1840s after surveyor Thomas Mitchell passed through the area in 1836. In 1841, Horatio Wills, on his way to selecting country further south, wrote in his diary, "like the Ark we rested" and named a nearby hill Mt Ararat. It is from this entry and the nearby Mount that the town takes its name.
When gold was first discovered most activity was west of the current town. The first Post Office opened in Cathcart on 1 February 1856 before being transferred to the current town on 31 August 1857. One month later the Gold Warden relocated to the current town. The current town was known for a time as Canton Lead. A tender was issued by the Public Works Office in 1858 for a cookhouse for the Police at Canton Lead. Until 1859 the local courts were the Canton Lead Court of Petty Sessions.
Alluvial gold was first discovered in the Ararat area in May 1854 at Pinky Point on the Denicull Creek. (A memorial can be found on the corner of the Ararat - Halls Gap Road (C222) and Better Route Road 5 km west of Ararat. Pinky Point is to the north.) By June that year 30 claims were being worked by 200 men across what was first called the Mt William field.
Other leads were quickly discovered in nearby creeks including Spring Gully. This discovery led to the establishment of the town of Cathcart (near where Spring Lead Road meets the C222). Gold was also discovered in Armstrong towards Great Western.
The alluvial rush peaked in 1857 when gold was discovered at Cambell’s Diggings (Moyston) and in the Canton led by a party of Chinese miners en route to the Central Victorian gold fields. The Canton lead swung around the west side of the current town centre from the Gum San Chinese Heritage Centre along the current alignment of Banfield Street between View Point and Laby Streets. The Gum San Chinese Heritage Centre commemorates the history of the substantial Chinese community in Ararat. …