Eastern View is a locality in the

Surf Coast Shire The Surf Coast Shire is a local government area in the Barwon South West region of Victoria, Australia, located in the south-western part of the state. It covers an area of . It had a population of 32,251 in June 2018. It includes the towns o ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Eastern View was a remote coastal area prior to the construction of the

Great Ocean Road The Great Ocean Road is an Australian National Heritage-listed stretch of road along the south-eastern coast of Australia, between the Victorian towns of Torquay and Allansford. Built by returned soldiers between 1919 and 1932, and dedica ...

, which was opened to Eastern View, albeit in the form of a narrow gravel track, in March 1922. Only four houses were located in the area in 1924; a fifth was later extended and granted a liquor license as the Eastern View Hotel in 1927. The hotel owners later leased land on the ocean side of the Great Ocean Road and built a tennis court. The Eastern View Hotel was a popular tourist destination for many years, but closed in 1957. The Great Ocean Road Trust developed a nine-hole golf course at Eastern View in 1936. It closed at the beginning of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and did not reopen. Both the former hotel building and the remnants of the golf course were destroyed in the

Ash Wednesday bushfires The Ash Wednesday bushfires, known in South Australia as Ash Wednesday II, were a Bushfires in Australia, series of bushfires that occurred in south-eastern Australia in 1983 on 16 February. Within twelve hours, more than 180 bushfires, fires f ...

in 1983. Eastern View Post Office opened on 1 July 1927, replacing a receiving office that had been open since 17 November 1924. It closed on 31 December 1967. A tollgate on the Great Ocean Road operated at Eastern View until the abolition of tolls when the Great Ocean Road Trust wound up and transferred control of the road to the state government in 1936. It was proposed in 1940 to rename the town "Herschell", in honour of the long-time chair of the former Trust, but this met with local resistance and did not occur. The Great Ocean Road Arch, which is located in the area, is a prominent landmark of the Great Ocean Road, and marks its official gateway. It was first opened in 1939, and has been rebuilt three times: in 1974, after the Country Roads Board found the original too low and narrow, in 1983, after it burned down in the Ash Wednesday bushfires, and again in the 1990s, after it was damaged by a mini-cyclone. The arch commemorates those who died in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Grass Creek (formerly Grassy Creek) runs through the west of the town. The Black Stump Roadhouse and a caravan park were located there during the 1950s. The Christian Brothers later purchased 25 acres in the area, and established the Santa Monica Camp. The original camp was destroyed in the Ash Wednesday bushfires, but has since been rebuilt. A construction camp was built nearby at Point Castries (now Cinema Point) to accommodate workers building the Great Ocean Road. Eastern View today consists of a small strip of houses along the

between the beach and the

Great Otway National Park The Great Otway National Park is a national park located in the Barwon South West region of Victoria, Australia. The national park is situated approximately southwest of Melbourne, in the Otway Ranges, a low coastal mountain range. It conta ...

. The Cinema Point lookout is also located at Eastern View.

References

{{authority control Towns in Victoria (state) Surf Coast Shire Coastal towns in Victoria (state)