Macedon Ranges Shire

Macedon Ranges Shire, centred on Kyneton to the north-west of Melbourne, was formed on 19 January 1995, by the union of Gisborne, Newham and Woodend, Romsey and most of Kyneton shires. The shire’s dominant feature, Mount Macedon and the Great Dividing Range, was the source of its name. Mount Macedon was named by the New South Wales Surveyor-General, Thomas Mitchell, on his exploratory journey in 1836. Mitchell climbed the mount and saw Port Phillip Bay to the south-east, and the association of Phillip of Macedonia inspired the name he gave to the mount.