MCVEIGH'S HOTEL AND WATER WHEEL
Background
McVeigh's
Water Wheel is a well-established site for educational purposes, being a rare structure of its type in the region, associated
with the goldmining history of the catchment area prior to the construction of the Reservoir and the closure of the catchment
forest to the public.
McVeigh's water wheel started
it's life in the 1890s running equipment at the Contention Mine in Contention gully located about 13 km up stream from the
current Upper Yarra Dam wall. This was one of many mines in the area.
The present-day Warburton to Woods Point Rd was a rough track in the late 1890s. It passed
through the small settlement of Walsh's Creek, where McVeighs Hotel was located.
In 1898, a coach service operated between Warburton and McVeighs, which was later extended
to Woods Point. Newspaper reports of the 1920s and 1930s era advised that the road was in very bad condition, and it was subsequenty
upgraded in 1946.
The track to Wood's Point, as well as Walsh's Creek and McVeighs, was submerged
when the Upper Yarra Reservoir was built in 1957.
The present-day road from
Warburton to Woods Point follows the Yarra Valley . but at a much lower altitude than the original track
In those days the Yarra
was at full flow below the current dam site and a large prospecting community was in the area. When the mine closed Paddy
McVeigh, the proprietor of McVeigh's hotel had the wheel moved to provide electricity for the hotel
1933 - the Hotel burned down and a larger hotel
was built on the same site
1936 - the newer hotel burned down!
1937 - a new Hostel was built on the old site and the water
wheel was repaired
1946 - On construction of the Dam, the Hostel as inundated.
While construction was under way the water wheel again had a shift and provided power to the workers quarters.
McVeigh's water wheel is in the grounds of the Upper Yarra Dam
park. The gears and iron work are the only remaining original parts as the rest has been rebuilt.
An information board
at the main picnic area at the Dam describes the history of McVeighs.
