Rathscar Victoria | |
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Coordinates | 36°58′27″S 143°31′16″E / 36.9742287°S 143.5212222°E |
Population | 19 ( SAL 2021) [1] |
Postcode(s) | 3465 |
Location |
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LGA(s) | |
State electorate(s) | Ripon |
Federal division(s) | Mallee |
Rathscar is a locality in Pyrenees Shire and the Shire of Central Goldfields. The area to the east of the Avoca River known as Rathscar West was surveyed in 1899. [2]
The Melbourne newspaper The Argus reported in 1903 that a new gold-bearing reef had been discovered in Rathscar. [3]
The "largest landholder and possibly the wealthiest" in the area was Charles Wilson from Sunny Park [4] ( Coordinates 36°58′53″S 143°36′28″E / 36.9813035°S 143.607879°E ). Wilson's daughter Maude Wilson married John Miller in 1901 at Sunny Park and they then lived in the Rathscar district where their four children were born.
There was a Primary School (Numbered 1535) at Rathscar West. [5]
Rathscar West had a Methodist church, initially constructed in timber and built around 1870. [6] As well as the Sunday services, the church hosted a number of activities including concerts, [7] harvest festivals [8] and Sunday School picnics. [9]
The timber building was replaced by brick church (recycled from the former Methodist Church / Wesleyan Chapel Homebush - 6 km away) in 1928. [10] [6] In 2018, this former Rathcar West church building is now privately owned. [11] [12]
The Pyrenees Shire Council has documented a number of buildings in Rathscar including the Methodist Church, the Avonlea Farm House and the Elliot farm complex, in the Avoca Heritage Study: 1864 - 1994 - Volume 3. [6]