Orbost Heritage Walk

Walking Through Orbost’s History:

Welcome to our town. We invite you to take a short walk along Nicholson Street (the main street of Orbost) and enjoy our Heritage Walk.

Fifteen story boards located on footpaths show snapshots from our past.

Outside the Slab Hut (Orbost Visitor Information Centre) are two boards. One relates to the first people of this region, the Gunai/Kurnai, and the other is about European settlement from the mid 1800s.

Further up the street are other stories of the social and commercial life of our district.

Some story boards invite you to look at old photos and then cast your eyes up and down the street and compare with the present day. Others are family stories.

Reflect upon the changes, imagine the past, appreciate the present, and enjoy your visit to the Orbost district.

THE FIRST PEOPLE — the Gunai/Kurnai Aboriginal people

STRINGY BARK AND PADDLE STEAMERS — the first European settlements

ORBOST’S LAST BLACKSMITH — the Wehner family

ORBOST CLUB HOTEL — “the bottom pub”

HERBERT’S STORES — the original department store

BANK BUILDINGS — can you find all five?

ORBOST POST OFFICE — a new beginning

FARMING ON THE FLOODPLAIN — bountiful harvests

SNOWY RIVER MAIL — newspaper from 1890

FROM BANK TO MEDICAL CLINIC — with art deco styling

HARDWARE AND IRONMONGERY — Drevermann’s

THE MAGIC OF THE MOVIES — picture theatres

‘FOOD YOUR APPETITE NEVER FORGETS’ - Baughurst family store

WOOD FROM TREES — the timber story

COMMONWEALTH HOTEL — “the top pub”

G & N CO-OPERATIVE STORES — ‘your own company’