Wedderburn
Postcode: 3518
Wedderburn is a rural town located in Victoria, Australia on the Calder Highway approximately 214 km north of Victoria’s capital city, Melbourne. At the 2001 census, Wedderburn had a population of 658. It is mainly a farming community but its early residents were gold miners and prospectors. It is still a popular spot for hopefuls with gold detectors who are still finding the occasional nice nugget.
One of the main attractions for tourists is Hard Hill Reserve where with a bit of imagination one can feel a sense of what it was like in the old days living in tents on the goldfields. Apart from gold a number of Eucalyptus stills used to operate in the district and a replica still has been situated on the site and is fired up, by arrangement, for tourist buses. On site is one of the original batteries for crushing the ore and removing the gold. A puddler is also on site and a demonstration of it working can be seen during the annual Gold and Heritage Festival held round about the end of February and the beginning of March.
Wedderburn has a generally older than average demographic. The town today is predominantly farming based, though the town includes the head office for the local Shire Council, (Loddon), a large p -12 school servicing the needs of a number of surrounding towns and communities and some manufacturing and service businesses.