Historical information

The images in the Bogong Village Collection were displayed in Bogong Jack’s Tavern for over 20 years and were donated to the Falls Creek Museum when the Tavern closed in 2021
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In 1939, the State Electricity Commission of Victoria established a field headquarters at Bogong to house workers and their families for the Kiewa Hydroelectric Scheme which ran from the 1930s to the 1960s. The workmen's camp was originally started with tents and was called Junction Camp. By 1947, the village supported 300 workers and their families. It included 40 houses, a hostel for single staff, a post office, a police station, a medical centre, and a primary school. The staff hostel was known as Kiewa House.
At the completion of the scheme, in the 1960s, the village was opened to public/tourism use. In 1968 the Victorian Education Department acquired the camp buildings and four houses from the State Electricity Commission of Victoria to establish an Outdoor Education Centre which has operated for over 50 years.

The Kiewa Hydroelectric Scheme was privatized in the 1990s and sold to Southern Hydro, before being acquired by AGL in 2005. In 2023 the Grollo Group signed a 73 year sublease on Bogong Village and has plans for its redevelopment as a workers’ village.

Significance

These images are significant because they capture the development of Bogong Village as an important element of the Kiewa Hydroelectric Scheme in Victoria.

Physical description

A collection of 4 black and white images capturing the development of Bogong Alpine Village and the Pretty Valley area during 1942