Beechworth: an Australian country town and its past

by Tom Griffiths

In this book, author Tom Griffiths explores Beechworth's history - its transition from gold town to tourist resort - through the perceptions and reminiscences of the town's residences, past and present. He tells the story of Beechworth's transformation with style and insight, and even those who have never been there will be fascinated. For this is a story shared by many Australian country towns which are now experiencing their greatest changes since the gold days.

Beechworth, in north-east Victoria, has come a long way from its heyday as a booming gold town. Today, after a long period of decline, Beechworth is a prime historic site, attracting tourists for whom Ned Kelly, gold nuggets, iron lace - the town itself - are put on display.

But to see the past as exotic, as something to be displayed, means relinquishing a private, familiar relationship with it. As private memory is turned into public monument, conflicts arise within the local community. Old and new residents express different visions of the past - local history questions national heritage. As Tom Griffiths shows in this lively examination of Beechworth's changing self-image, the past can be a source of tension and conflict, as well as of reassurance.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

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Tom Griffiths is a professor of history in the Research School of Social Sciences at the Australian National University–Canberra. He is the author of Forests of Ash: An Environmental History, Hunters and Collectors: The Antiquarian Imagination in Australia, and Slicing the Silence: Voyaging to Antarctica.