Gold Mining in Darebin
During the Depression in 1893 desperate local Northcote residents sunk a mine shaft in Rucker’s Hill in a vain attempt to discover gold. After the mine failed to produce any gold the attempt was abandoned and the shaft filled in.
This was not the last attempt to find gold in Darebin. In Nicholls and Hill sunk a shaft between Princess Street and Darebin Creek in Preston. They reached 20 feet before hitting a clay belt and giving up.
City of Northcote (1933). Northcote Jubilee celebrations 1883 – 1933 : souvenir & official program. Northcote: Author.