Antwerp, Victoria

Antwerp is a small town in Victoria, Australia on the Dimboola – Rainbow Road, in the Shire of Hindmarsh, 14km north of Dimboola and 356km north-west of Melbourne. The Wimmera River is located 500m west of the town.HistoryThe area was first settled by Europeans in 1846, when George Shaw and Horatio Ellerman applied for 130000acre for sheep grazing. Ellerman named the area after his birthplace, the Belgian city of Antwerp. In 1858 two Moravian missionaries, Reverend Friedrich Hagenauer and Reverend Spieseke, arrived in the area. By 1859 they had built a church, and in 1860 they baptised their first Aborigine.During the 1880s, the Eucalyptus Mallee Oil Company began operations in the township, distilling eucalyptus oil, which was sold under the brand name EMU. The eucalyptus oil business was responsible for the influx of people into the district.Antwerp State School No. 3104 (originally named Antwerp South State School) opened circa 1891, with tenders called to relocate a building from Koonik Koonik in 1901 and additions in 1905. The building was condemned by the Shire of Dimboola in 1909 on health grounds due to overcrowding. The school was rebuilt and continued operating until closure at the end of 1981 due to falling enrolments. The school buildings were removed from the site after closure.The first "Antwerp" Post Office opened on 25 November 1891, but was renamed Antwerp North in March 1892 and then Tarranyurk in May 1895, which mirrored its location along the railway line. The new Antwerp Post Office opened at Antwerp township in March 1892 and closed in January 1990.