William McLachlan, a Shepherd's Hutkeeper,  discovered gold at Pleasant Creek in May 1853 while fossicking in Pleasant Creek in his spare time. It only was a small amount of gold - some pennyweights - and although the find was made known, not many people came here then.

This was then a very isolated area, water was scarce and there were no supplies of food while the goldfields of Ballarat, Bendigo, Clunes etc. were operating with stores already established. Some people did come and there were also people passing through here from South Australia to the Victorian goldfields who stopped and washed small quantities of gold.

Many  gold seekers came and went during the next four years - finding some small quantities - and in August 1857 - the big rush occurred at what became known as Commercial Street, Pleasant Creek - off the Grampians/Halls Gap Road.

This rush spread across to Deep Lead and The Ironbarks and the Warden's report at the height of the rush, said that there were 25,000 to 30,000 people there. According to early Census Records, Newington Road showed approximately 6 thousand people living in tents, bark huts and crude dwellings. Much of Deep Lead and The Ironbarks area are still littered with old mine shafts and basic foundations of structures that existed there.

At the same time, shafts were being sunk around Big Hill and gold was found in the quartz there. The Big Hill area was called Quartz Reefs, Pleasant Creek. This caused many Miners, Public Services and Businesses and Industries to move from Pleasant Creek to the area that now covers Main Street to Big Hill area. With the then increase of Miners, Business Owners, Churches and other services, the area now know as the "Pleasant Creek Historical Precinct" was determined to be too far to travel for official matters. A new Courthouse was built in Patrick Street, Banks sprang up, Significant buildings such as the Mechanics Institute were built in Main Street, Hotels and other Outlets increased, new Schools were built.

Much alluvial gold was found in the Illawarra/Deep Lead area but how much and who found it is not known. The diggers took their gold and left and the field had petered out by 1859 - only lasting less then two years with a very diminishing numbers of diggers.

The Quartz Reefs became a stable gold field and companies were formed to purchase the machinery needed and employed many miners. This goldfield was known as "Stawell's Golden Mile" although it extended for a mile and a half or more from the Wonga Open Cut  along the foot of Big Hill - along Newington Road out to the Three Jacks in the Ironbarks.

Huge amounts of gold were found and fortunes made. Of the 14 richest mines in Victoria. Number 8 on that list was the Cross Reef at Stawell and number 10 was the Magdala at Stawell. Mining here slowed down in the late 1880's with many mines closing from then to the 1890's and the last mine closed in 1920.

Mining resumed in Stawell in 1982 and gold is still being found underground today with Stawell Gold Mine being considered the 2nd largest operational gold mine in Victoria.