Yackandandah
History
It is a former gold mining centre known for its alluvial wet mining techniques. Yackandandah Post Office opened on 13 June 1856. Another office nearby, Yackandandah Junction, opened in 1872 but closed in 1885.
In his local book, O'Brien (p. 22) quotes an old poem published in the Melbourne Punch, 11 June 1857, titled, "The Lass of Yackandandah".
Today
The area is now predominantly a dairy farming and forestry region, and has numerous bed and breakfast lodges which allow its many visitors to enjoy the peace and tranquillity of the district's forest and mountains.
The town is affectionately known as "Yack", though in more recent times it has increasingly been referred to as "the 'dandah" by its younger residents.
The commercial centre of the town, known as the Yackandandah Conservation Area, is recorded on the Register of the National Estate.
The town has an Australian rules football team competing in the Tallangatta & District Football League.
Golfers play at the course of the Yackandandah Golf Club on Racecourse Road.
Rail
The Yackandandah railway line once linked Yackandandah to Beechworth, and opened in 1891. The route to Woorragee and from there to Yackandandah was steep; trains descending the last gradient into Yackandandah would halt (near the now Yackandandah turnoff, from the Beechworth-Wodonga Road) so the guard could apply hand-brakes to carriages and wagons. The last train on the Yackandandah-Beechworth line was in July 1954. Though the line was torn up, many sections of the original right of way are visible from the roadway between Beechworth and Yackandandah.
Culture
Used for the filming of the 2003 film, Strange Bedfellows, (starring Michael Caton and Paul Hogan), Yackandandah is also home to the annual Yackandandah Folk Festival attracting local, Australian and international artists. Like its larger neighbour, Yackandandah promotes itself as a tourist destination on the basis of its gold mining history, and features a period street scape and an increasing number of antique shops.
Two historic buildings, the 146-year-old museum (formerly the Bank of Victoria) and an adjacent timber store ("Rainbow Crystal"), were destroyed by a fire in the early morning of 21 December 2006. A real estate agency was also severely damaged. The museum was rebuilt, reopening in November 2008.