Scarsdale

Scarsdale is a rural village on the Glenelg Highway, 22 km south-west of Ballarat. The origin of the name is unclear: it was possibly the name of a gold prospector in the district, or it is descriptive of a valley or dale at the bottom of a rocky outcrop.

Gold was found in the vicinity of Scarsdale in 1856, mainly on a semi-circular alignment which coincided with Brown’s diggings about 2.5 km east-north-east of Scarsdale. The diggings were developed towards the end of the 1850s, and Scarsdale’s best gold years were 1861-64. Mining continued until the 1900s however.