Central Highlands (Victoria)

Castlemaine Secondary College is a state secondary school located in the town of Castlemaine in central Victoria, Australia which caters for approximately 630 students from Years 7 to 12. It is the only state secondary school in the Mount Alexander Shire.

The Mount Alexander Shire (officially Shire of Mount Alexander) is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the central part of the state. It covers an area of 1,530 square kilometres (590 sq mi) and, in August 2021, had a population of 20,253. It includes the towns of Castlemaine, Chewton, Elphinstone, Maldon, Newstead, Harcourt, Taradale, Vaughan, Fryerstown and Campbells Creek. It was formed in 1995 from the amalgamation of the City of Castlemaine, Shire of Newstead, and most of the Shire of Maldon and Shire of Metcalfe. The traditional owners of the land are Dja Dja Wurrung.The Shire is governed and administered by the Mount Alexander Shire Council; its seat of local government and administrative centre is located at the council headquarters in Castlemaine, it also has service centres located in Maldon and Newstead. The Shire is named after the first European settlers' name for the Castlemaine region and goldfields.

The City of Castlemaine was a local government area about 120 kilometres (75 mi) north-northwest of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia, and 38 kilometres (24 mi) south of the regional city of Bendigo. The city covered an area of 23.31 square kilometres (9.0 sq mi), and existed from 1855 until 1995.

Castlemaine Boroughs was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Victoria from 1856 to 1859. It included the towns Castlemaine, Muckleford, Harcourt and Elphinstone, all roughly 110 to 130 km north-west of Melbourne. The boundaries included non-continuous urban areas. The district of Castlemaine Boroughs was one of the initial districts of the first Victorian Legislative Assembly, 1856. Castlemaine Boroughs was abolished in 1859, the new district of Castlemaine was created that year when the Victorian Electoral Act of 1858 was implemented.

Castlemaine Art Museum is an Australian art gallery and museum in Castlemaine, Victoria in the Shire of Mount Alexander. It was founded in 1913. It is housed in a 1931 Art Deco neo-classical building constructed for the purpose, heritage-listed by the National Trust. Its collection concentrates on Australian art and the museum houses historical artefacts and displays drawn from the district. The Museum is governed by private trustees and managed by a board elected by subscribers and provided with state and local government funding and support from benefactors, local families, artists and patrons. Its trustees also oversee the management of Buda, a heritage-listed villa and garden 1.3 km across Castlemaine in Hunter Street, which houses its own collection of art and artefacts associated with the Leviny family, and is also open to the public for exhibitions, events displays and garden tours.

Castlemaine Post Office is a heritage-listed post office at 202 Barker Street, Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia. It was added to the Australian Commonwealth Heritage List on 8 November 2011.

Castlemaine railway station is located on the Deniliquin line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the town of Castlemaine, and it opened on 21 October 1862.The station is also the termini of the Maldon and Moolort lines, but no passenger revenue services currently operates on the latter line, with the Victorian Goldfields Railway operating heritage services on the Maldon line. In 1973, a turntable at the station was abolished. On 9 July 1977, the passenger service to Maryborough was withdrawn, and in 1978, a number of points were abolished, as was a crossover and the former carriage dock.Rationalisation of the former yard occurred during the late 1980s. In 1989, signal boxes "A" and "B" were abolished, and replaced with a signal panel within the station office. Mechanical points were also abolished, and all signals were replaced with two and three position signals. Also in that year, boom barriers replaced interlocked gates at the Parker Street level crossing, located nearby in the down direction of the station.On 17 December 2004, the Victorian Goldfields Railway was extended from Muckleford to Castlemaine. On 17 January 2005, the signal panel was abolished.Disused stations Elphinstone and Taradale are located between Castlemaine and Malmsbury, while disused stations Harcourt and Ravenswood are located between Castlemaine and Kangaroo Flat. Demolished station Chewton was also located between Castlemaine and Malmsbury.

Castlemaine ( KASS-əl-mayn, non-locally also KAHSS-) is a town in west central Victoria, Australia, in the Goldfields region about 120 kilometres (75 miles) northwest by road from Melbourne and about 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the major provincial centre of Bendigo. It is the administrative and economic centre of the Shire of Mount Alexander. The population at the 2021 Census was 7,506. Castlemaine was named by the chief goldfield commissioner, Captain W. Wright, in honour of his Irish uncle, Viscount Castlemaine. Built on the lands of the Dja Dja Wurrung, Castlemaine began as a gold rush boomtown in 1851 and developed into a major regional centre, being officially proclaimed a City on 4 December 1965, although since declining in population.It is home to many cultural institutions including the Theatre Royal, the oldest continuously operating theatre in mainland Australia.

The Old Castlemaine Gaol is a former prison, located in Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia. The building was modelled on Pentonville prison in London, replacing the original, designed by Inspector General John Price, which was never occupied. Built in 1861 to house offenders from the goldfields and nearby towns, it served various functions in the penal system before it was closed in 1990 and its prisoners transferred to HM Prison Loddon. From 1861 to 1908, the gaol housed all manner of criminals, including lunatics and debtors, and ten men were hanged within the walls. In the later of these years however, the gaol housed mostly short-term prisoners and first-time offenders. Between 1909 and 1951, the gaol was converted into a reformatory school for boys aged between 16 and 25. Most were under 21. The gaol then closed for a number of years, before reopening in 1954 to accommodate medium-security prisoners from across the state. It remained open until August 1990. After it ceased prison operations, it was used as a hotel and tourist attraction. It served as the studio for local community radio station WMA FM/Main FM 94.9 as well as various small businesses. In 2018, the old gaol was sold to artist David Bromley. The grounds were originally landscaped by renowned landscape gardener Hugh Linaker.

Campbells Creek is home to the historical Castlemaine Cemetery, which was moved from Templeton Street, Castlemaine, to Cemetery Road, Campbells Creek, in 1853. Most of the burials in the original cemetery were re-interred and the new cemetery was still called Castlemaine Cemetery. The first burial noted in the new cemetery register was on 3 March 1853. Since then, there have been approximately 20,500 burials registered. The cemetery features a soldiers' memorial and an historic two-tiered Chinese funeral burner, which served as a safe place for the ritualized burning of spiritual tributes.The Sexton's office was built in 1867 and was known then as "The Lodge". It houses the original 1875 cemetery map. The cemetery trust has been managed by a group of volunteers appointed by the Government since 1859, an arrangement that continues to this day. The cemetery is on the Victorian Heritage Register as the site is of historical, social, architectural, and aesthetic significance to Victoria. Many of the pioneers of Castlemaine are buried in the cemetery including Fanny Finch, the first woman to vote in an Australian election, 50 years before it was legal for women to vote. Also Sir Harry Sutherland Wightman Lawson (1875–1952), 27th Premier of Victoria, is buried here.

Set at the back of Campbells Creek, the trees here were originally selected by Baron Von Mueller, the famed botanist who designed the Castlemaine Botanical Gardens. The 37-40 Campbells Creek Fryer Road Reserve is the sport and recreation hub for the local community, and features: Cricket nets Football goal posts Male change-rooms Netball court Oval Oval lights Pavilion Playground Synthetic cricket wicket Trotting trackThe Mount Alexander Shire Council is responsible for the management of the land, via the Campbells Creek Recreation Reserve Committee of Management (a Section 86 Committee). This group of local volunteers works to manage and maintain the reserve. The Committee of Management members are all actively involved with the various sporting groups that use the club-rooms, ground and trotting track and are always striving to bring out the best in their facility. The Recreation Reserve hosts a range of events each year, including the KR Don Christmas party, Castlemaine Lawn Mower Racing and local school athletic days. The following clubs have their home ground here: Campbells Creek Colts Cricket Club Campbells Creek Football Netball Club Campbells Creek Junior Football Club Campbells Creek Trotting Club.

Buda is a heritage-listed historic house and garden located in Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia. It was added to the Victorian Heritage Database on 15 October 1970, when it was purchased by the Trustees of the Castlemaine Art Gallery and Historic Museum (CAGHM) which oversees its management. Since 1981 the house (museum) and garden are open to the public Monday to Sunday 12pm to 4pm, except Good Friday and Christmas Day.