The original inhabitants of the area were the Neangar people. Following the discovery of gold at Sandhurst in October 1851, Joseph Crook discovered a gold nugget while searching for stray horses. This event sparked a gold rush in the area leading to the establishment of the township in 1852, the population quickly building up to 40,000. The Post Office opened on 1 August 1857. In 1862, the Borough of Eaglehawk was established, which included the nearby township of California Gully. After the alluvial gold was exhausted in 1893, reef mines were established, with 300 tonnes of gold extracted. Most of the mines had closed by the 1890s and by 1947 the population had decreased substantially to 4,090. The Eaglehawk Magistrates' Court closed on 1 January 1990. In 1994 the Borough of Eaglehawk was amalgamated by the Victorian Government with four other councils to become the city of Greater Bendigo.
Community facilities
Schools
The town has two government primary schools one at Eaglehawk and another at Eaglehawk North, a Catholic primary school and a government secondary college.
Sporting facilities
Canterbury Park has an oval as well as bowling and croquet facilities. The Eaglehawk Croquet Club Inc. was founded in 1909, in premises vacated by the Eaglehawk Bowling Club. Golf Croquet was introduced in 1975 and subscriptions for this style of croquet is rising. Association, Golf Croquet and Golf Croquet Pennant games are played. The Eaglehawk Croquet Club is a part of the Northern District Croquet Association and the club now hosts some major regional tournaments and competitions, the NDCA Pennant Competition and also teaches and coaches school and college children from all over Bendigo. The club hosts the Victorian Teachers Games and will host the Special Olympics. Eaglehawk Croquet Club also runs regular "Come & Try" days. Canterbury Park is also home to the Bendigo Leisure Centre, operated by the Bendigo Regional YMCA. This facility includes a 50-metre indoor swimming pool, a health club, mini golf and squash courts. The Albert Roy Reserve has a baseball field, a badminton, a table tennis stadium and is home to the Roy Bateson Tennis Club. A soccer field is located at the nearby Truscott Reserve. The town has one golf course, the Neangar Park Golf Course. The suburb has an Australian Rules football team competing in the Bendigo Football League.
Other facilities
A community and day hospital, a 66-bed aged-care facility is operated by Benetas. A police station and a fire station are also located in the town. Eaglehawk is also home to the Star Cinema, a non-profit community-owned cinema located in the old Eaglehawk Town Hall. 1st Eaglehawk Scout Hall runs programs for Scouts on a Tuesday night and Cubs on a Thursday night, they are a part of Scouts Australia and have their hall available for hire to the general public.
Events
The annual Dahlia and Arts Festival is held in March. Annual Canterbury Carols are held in December
Cultural references
The author Thomas Alexander Browne, better known by his pseudonym Rolf Boldrewood, wrote the novelThe Sphinx of Eaglehawk in 1895, based on his experiences as a station owner in the area. In one of A.B. "Banjo" Paterson's poems "Mulga Bill's Bicycle", first published in The Sydney Mail in 1896, Paterson introduces the eponymous character as "Mulga Bill, from Eaglehawk, that caught the cycling craze". The poem's local connection was recognised with the creation of the Mulga Bill Bicycle Trail, taking in many of the mining attractions, historic sites and modern day amenities of Eaglehawk.
