Bonzle Collections - Mining

Rip Van Winkle Mine, Blackwood, Victoria.

contributed by Historian, taken in 1896
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The Rip Van Winkle tunnel entrance can be seen at the Blackwood Caravan Park. The Rip Van Winkle mine has a long history going back to Blackwood’s early gold-mining days and is first recorded in 1859 as the Early Bird mine and later the Great Extended mine which was situated on Johnston’s Reef halfway between the then townships of Blackwood and Golden Point, and now located at the foot of the hill south of the present Blackwood Caravan Park.
photo C. 1896. For more info see - 'Aspects of Early Blackwood' by Margot Hitchcock, Historian, Blackwood & District Historical Society.