Historical information

The Ebenezer Mission Station is situated by the Wimmera River and was established by Moravian missionaries as the Lake Hindmarsh Aboriginal Reserve in 1859. At its peak more than 100 people lived and worked on the mission in more than 20 buildings. The Mission closed in 1900 and was returned to the Lands Department in 1904.

The church was established in the 1870s and the cemetery includes hundreds of unmarked burials.

In 1961 the National Trust (Victoria) received a letter from the Horsham Historical Society expressing concern for the future of the Mission buildings. By 1971 the National Trust was managing the site. It was fenced, connected to power and the church was restored.

In the mid-1970s the gravestones were in a bad state of repair. Stonemason James McCauley worked on the stones for 2 weeks.

In 1991 the church was handed over to the Goolum Goolum Aboriginal Co-operative to manage. On 05 December 2013 the National Trust handed over the freehold of the Mission site.

Moravian missionary Revd Paul Bogisch and his wife Amalie are buried in the cemetery.

Physical description

A number of colour digital photographs showing buildings on the former Ebenezer Mission at Antwerp.

Subjects