SIGNIFICANCE: Site of first permanent settlement in the district.
This area has local significance as an important archaeological site because of its historical associations with the Grange Inn and a number of other 1840s buildings which preceded the establishment of the Hamilton township. The earliest buildings on the site in 1842 were a couple of slab huts, a kitchen, a police office and a store. (i) In 1843 the Grange Inn (later Blackstock's Inn) was opened about 75 metres south-west of where Digby Road now crosses the Grange Burn. In 1844 a blacksmith's business was built near the inn by Robert H Heazlewood, and in late 1849 or early 1850 a store was opened nearby by David Beath, a failed pastoralist. (ii) This group of early buildings is shown on the 1850 Town of Hamilton map and they still existed in 1948. James Blastock (c1812-58) bought the site of one acre from the Crown at auction in 1854. Today, all the buildings have been demolished, but the area remains a significant archaeological site. (iii)
i Garden, Don, Hamilton, pp 30-35.
ii Ibid., p 33.
iii Ibid., p 32; Plan of the Town ofHamilton1850, Featr. 5U, Central Plans Office, Melbourne.