Majorca is a locality in central
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. The locality is in the
Shire of Central Goldfields
Shire of Central Goldfields is a Local government areas of Victoria, local government area in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, located in the central part of the state. It covers an area of and, in August 2021 had a population of 13,48 ...
, south of
Maryborough and north west of the state capital,
Melbourne
Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
. At the
2006 census, Majorca and the surrounding rural area had a population of 387.
By the time of the
2016 census the population had declined to 211.
History
Majorca was founded in 1863—towards the end of the
Victorian gold rush
The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia, approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. It led to a period of extreme prosperity for the Australian colony and an influx of population growth and financial capi ...
—after two prospectors struck gold at nearby McCallum's Creek. Two months later, there were 250 stores and restaurants catering to a population of around three to four thousand, although many shops and residents soon returned to nearby Maryborough.
The town was sustained for over 50 years through gold mining, including the Kong Meng Mine. It is now a rural area consisting mainly of farmland and the Tullaroop Reservoir which helps provide water to Maryborough.
The old Majorca store was destroyed by fire and subsequently demolished on May 27, 2015.
Notable residents
*
William Blundell
William Blundell (1946 – 3 July 2023) was an Australian painter and art copyist. He painted copies, which he called innuendos, for Sydney art dealer Germaine Marie François Toussaint Curvers.
Blundell painted works with the style of, among ...
(1866–1946)
*
Charles Fredricksen (1873–1966)
*
Lowe Kong Meng (1831–1888)
*
George Nicholas (1831–1937)
References
External links
Towns in Victoria (state)
Ghost towns in Victoria (state)
{{VictoriaAU-geo-stub