Rochester, Victoria

Rochester
Victoria

Northern Highway passing through Rochester. The Murray Goulburn factory can be seen in the background.
Rochester
Coordinates 36°22′0″S 144°42′0″E / 36.36667°S 144.70000°E / -36.36667; 144.70000Coordinates: 36°22′0″S 144°42′0″E / 36.36667°S 144.70000°E / -36.36667; 144.70000
Population 3,136 (2011 census)[1]
Postcode(s) 3561
Elevation 105 m (344 ft)
Location
LGA(s) Shire of Campaspe
State electorate(s) Murray Plains
Federal Division(s) Murray
Mean max temp Mean min temp Annual rainfall
21.3 °C
70 °F		 9.0 °C
48 °F		 437.6 mm
17.2 in

Rochester is a small town in country Victoria, Australia. It is located 180 km north of Melbourne with a mixture of rural and semi-rural communities on the northern Campaspe River, between Bendigo and the Murray River port of Echuca. At the 2011 census, Rochester had a population of 3,106.[1]

History

The area around the Campaspe River was known as Yalooka, and for thousands of years was home to the Pinpandoor, the local tribe of Aboriginees.

Rochester (via Rowechester) was named after Dr John Pearson Rowe, who had a hotel here before the township was gazetted in 1855.[2] The Post Office opened on 11 May 1863 and the town was reached by the railway line from Bendigo (connecting it to Melbourne) in 1864.[3]

The town is famous as the birthplace in 1904 of Australian racing and endurance cyclist, Sir Hubert Opperman, affectionately known as Oppy. There is a museum dedicated to Oppy in Moore street, and a statue of him winning the 24-hour Bol D'Or race in Paris in 1928. On his 90th birthday Oppy donated one of his trusty Malvern Star bicycles to the museum.

The town today

Agriculture plays an important part in the economy of Rochester. Primary agriculture includes dairy, tomatoes, cattle and sheep. There are also some grain and seed farms. The Devondale (dairy processing) factory is a large employer, and there are several other smaller industries.

It has a co-educational public Secondary College with 470 pupils in 2004.

Spare time in Rochester often revolves around sport, with tennis, cricket, basketball, Australian rules football, netball, lawn bowls, cycling and swimming all well supported. The town has an Australian Rules football team competing in the Goulburn Valley Football League known as the Tigers, and last won the GVFL premiership in 2012.[4]

Golfers play at the Campaspe Golf Club on the Northern Highway,[5] or at the course of the Rochester Golf Club on Black Culvert Road.[5]

The town has its own railway station.

Notable residents

Rochester was the birthplace of Sir Hubert Opperman, an acclaimed endurance cyclist and politician.

2011 Floods

High intensity rainfall in January 2011 caused major flooding across much of the western and central parts of the Australian state of Victoria. Rochester suffered the greatest flood in the town's history in January 2011 . Around 80% of the town was inundated with water from the Campaspe River.[6] The Campaspe reached a peak of 9.17m (at the Rochester Syphon) during the late afternoon of the 15th. Recordings at the Rochester Township station ceased on the morning of the 15th after it too was swallowed by the rising river. Many of the town's residents were evacuated to the town of Echuca, 30 kilometres (19 mi) to the north, with the military being called in to assist the evacuation of the Rochester hospital.

The floods were the result of a large amount of rain falling into the Campaspe catchment at Lake Eppalock throughout the course of the week prior to the flood. Large volumes of water coursed down Eppalock's spillways directly into the Campaspe, directly affecting towns downstream.

References

  1. 1 2 Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "Rochester (State Suburb)". 2011 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  2. ↑ Campaspe Shire, Placenames, retrieved 2009-05-01
  3. ↑ Premier Postal History, Post Office List
  4. ↑ Sporting Pulse, Rochester, retrieved 2010-12-22
  5. 1 2 Golf Select, Campaspe, retrieved 2009-05-11
  6. ↑ Harris, Whitney; Henry, Lauren (2011-01-16). "Historic town prepares for the worst". The Age. Melbourne.

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