150 years: Blackwood State School

Learn about the history of Blackwood State School, one of Victoria’s oldest public schools.

Key information

Address:
Golden Point Road, Blackwood, 3458
Opened:
1 January 1855
Closed:
31 December 1930
School type:
Primary
School number:
1074
Other names:
Golden Point School, Golden Point Common School, Golden Point Blackwood School

The history of Blackwood State School

  • 1855

    Golden Point School (No. 1074) was opened by the local Church of England school.

    The school was sometimes referred to as Golden Point, Blackwood.

    The first teacher was Thomas Hay, who was an engineer and surveyor.

  • 1860s to 1880s

    Assistant teachers over the years included Miss Pollock, Miss Bunt, and Miss Byers.

    Teachers included McGibbons, Von Zeeglar and De Valeri.

    Peter Drummond taught at the school for 15 years. Later on, another teacher started at the school and stayed for 16 years; his name was Derrick.

    Our records show that local residents built a new two-room school during Derrick's period of service.

  • 1907

    Former Golden Point State School timber building with picket fence around 1907.
  • 1914

    The school moved from Golden Point to Red Hill (an area now known as Blackwood) which is 19 km north of Ballan. 

    The existing school house was remodelled using a standard schoolroom design, and a new teacher's house was built. The teacher's house was made out of wood.

    Older students could not complete their Qualifying and Merit examinations at Golden Point, Blackwood. Instead, they had to travel by a special horse cab to the nearby Barry's Reef School, north-west of Blackwood.

     

  • 1920s

    At some point the school name changed to Blackwood State School (No. 1074).

  • 1930

    Blackwood State School closed. 

Find more interesting facts about this school

The Public Record Office Victoria (PROV) is the archive of Victoria's State and local government. They look after some of our oldest school records, and we can use these records to help us understand what school life used to be like.

Now it's your turn to do some detective work. PROV currently only have paper records for this school. Take a look to see what info they have on this school.

Updated