VICFarming
Sunbury
A river ford turned pastoral country into a road town.
1851Town proclaimed · ford on the goldfields road
WHAT STARTED IT
Jacksons Ford on the Mount Macedon road was a practical crossing of Jacksons Creek. Pastoral settlement and later goldfields traffic created a service town at the route’s bottleneck.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
European pastoral settlement began in 1836 and the government proclaimed Sunbury at Jacksons Ford in 1851. The railway arrived in 1859. Large institutions, wineries and the 1970s music festivals added very different chapters.
TURNING POINTS
1836Pastoral settlement begins.
1851Sunbury proclaimed at Jacksons Ford.
1859Railway opens from Melbourne.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
A large outer-Melbourne centre with rail commuting, local services and new housing layered over its older rural town and vineyard landscape.