Airey's inlet received its name from
John Airey who took up pastoral runs to the east of the Inlet
near Point Roadknight in 1839. His run expanded to the
Airey's Inlet area around 1842.
The area was subdivided in 1887 into one hundred blocks
which were relatively inaccessible, few were occupied.
Photo: The Great Ocean Road Memorial Arch is south of
the township at Eastern View..
The Great Ocean Road Memorial Arch
at Eastern View was built to commemorate the return
servicemen from World War 1 who built the Great Ocean
Road between 1918 and 1932.
CLOSE BY
Anglesea
Lorne
The Otways
The Great
Ocean Road
Torquay & Bells
Beach
1890 saw the construction of a lighthouse was begun on the
site known as Eagle's Nest Point (renamed Split Point in
1913). The lighthouse stands some 100 metres above sea
level.
With timber milling being the major source industry in the
area, families moved in and a school was opened in 1893 and
it continued until local timber milling declined after the
first world war.
A Hotel opened in 1894 and by 1903 a post office and an
Anglican church were built.
After the First World War The Great Ocean Road Trust was
formed and the road between
Lorne and
Anglesea was opened in
1922 this put Airey's Inlet on a coastal through-route
Airey's Inlet and Fairhaven have had their share of tragedy
with fire ripping through the area on a regular basis. The
area was drastically devastated in the horrific Ash Wednesday
fires of 1983 which destroyed much of the area.
AIREY'S INLET
