PEEL STREET SOUTH COMMERICAL SITE

The site is first mapped on the 1861 Gold Fields Plan of Ballarat No 1. The plan shows one structure in the south west corner of the site. In 1865 the site was formally sold to assist in the remediation of Lake Como, a local nuisance. Lake Como likely formed because of the alluvial mining and later quarts mining of the area. There are multiple descriptions of the filling of Lake Como with mining waste and rubbish, in addition to Hil’s DEM showing 1m-3m of fill across the site. The 1870s Panorama from Ballarat Town Hall shows the site is densely occupied by a number of businesses that likely occupied the site until the 20th century. 

The site is of archaeological and historical significance. 

The site is of historical significance as the location of an early residence and commercial precinct during the years of the Victorian gold rush – one of the most significant rushes in world history. The site is of archaeological significance due to its potential to contain artefacts, deposits and features that relate to the establishment of commercial operations in the gold rush, and other later 19th-century commercial activities.