Lavers Hill

Lavers Hill is a town in Victoria, Australia, located 48km inland from Port Campbell and 48km from Apollo Bay. The township is located approximately 205km south-west of the state capital, Melbourne. At the 2006 census, Lavers Hill had a population of 208.HistoryLavers Hill was named after two settlers from Gippsland called Stephen and Frank Laver. The first saw mill was opened in 1900 and so was the church next to the College. Old families from as far back as the 1880s still reside near Lavers Hill, e.g. Speight, Hampshire and Farrell. Development of Lavers Hill happened quickly. Lavers Hill depended on logging and agriculture for its income. It also is dependent on tourism. A bank was opened in 1906, the community hall was opened, a cheese factory and butcher shop were built and also a hotel. A lot of these businesses have closed down. The Community hall was literally blown over in 1930 and rebuilt in 1933. The hotel was burnt down in 1919 and again in 1930. The cheese factory closed and so did the butcher.Lavers Hill SchoolThe Lavers Hill school was opened in 1910 as a rented room in the cheese factory. Another school was built near the church in 1911. In 1953, Johanna school and this were consolidated. At one point, Lavers Hill school had 500 kids. Today it has around 100 students from Beech Forest, Ferguson, Gellibrand, Lower Gellibrand, Johanna and Hordernvale and was opened 1911. This school has recently celebrated its centenary on 2/3 April 2011.