Anglesea - A brief history

Anglesea was formerly known as Swampy Creek then later as Anglesea River, it attracted travelers and sporting groups as early as the 1860s due to the abundant supply of fresh fish in the river and sea and wildlife in the bush.

During the 1880s the area was subdivided and two boarding houses and a hotel were established to support the holiday trade. By the 1920s there were several holiday homes and the start of the Great Ocean Road.
 

In 1881 the "Hereford" an iron clipper was grounded on a reef near Pt. Addis. The three masted Inverlochy also became stranded on nearby Ingoldsby reef in 1902. Both ships were abandoned.

The population of the area started to flourish from 1924 when a forest plantation was set up near the area, and in the 1960s a coal mine and power station was established by Alcoa (the Aluminum Company), attracting many workers to the area, which generates electricity for its major factory at Point Henry on Geelong's Corio Bay.

Anglesea has been the victim of many bush fires since early settlement. In 1966 fourteen houses were lost, in 1982 the camping ground was burnt and in 1983 the devastating Ash Wednesday fires destroyed 142 homes and seriously destroyed much of the Great Ocean Road including houses at Airey's Inlet and Lorne.