The Shamrock Hotel in Rochester is a particularly large and intact example of Australian hotel architecture. The composition of the building is typical of nineteenth and early twentieth century provincial hotels. The hotel was erected in 1912 for T W McMaster. The architects were Keogh and Austin of Bendigo and the contractors were Read Bros of Melbourne. The two storey brick structure faces onto two intersecting streets and is encircled by a two storey veranda. The exposed brick walls have rendered string courses and lintels and rendered entablature and parapet decoration.

Rochester Shamrock - Rochester visitor guide showing a virtual tour of 'Rochester Shamrock' linked to an interactive map with local and travel information. 360° panoramas from Victoria.

Rochester is a service center for the surrounding agricultural, pastoral and irrigation district. Rochester is 179 kms north of Melbourne on the Campaspe River. The town has a booming tomato industry and one of Australia's major dairy processing plants, with a peak daily milk intake in excess of 3 million litres. An intricate engineering feat is the Campaspa siphon, where the Warange-Mallee irrigation channels run beneath the river.

Rochester has century old buildings and up to date sporting and education facilities. Famous as the birthplace of Sir Hubert Opperman his statue and museum greet you at the start of the retail precinct, where you will find a variety of shops, cafes and craft.

The area around the Campaspe River, which was known as Yalooka, had been home to the Pinpandoor Aboriginal Tribe for Thousands of years when in 1836 New South Wales Surveyor General Major Thomas Mitchell located and named the Campaspe River.

By the mid 1840's several large holdings had been taken out in the area including "Restdown Plains" and "Cornelia Creek' which shared a common boundary near where the town of Rochester now stands. Early Settlers were mostly sheep farmers.

During a visit to "Restdown Plains", Governor Hotham named the settlement "Rowechester', a latinised version of "Rowes Camp". When the settlement was made official on October 24th 1855 a government clerical error led to the proclamation of Rochester which has remained to this day. In 1864 the Melbourne to Echuca railway reached Rochester with the station being on the west bank of the river, which led to the focus of the town to shift from the eastern side of the Campaspe to where it remains today.

The coming of the Railway also led to the breaking up of the large pastoral leases and the advent of cropping on smaller holdings. In a few years Rochester became one of the leading wheat producing centres in the new State of Victoria. In 1864 the Echuca Roads Board was established including the Rochester district and on May 26 1871 it was proclaimed a Shire. On 27th November 1909 after years of heated debate the separate Shire of Rochester was proclaimed. As fate would have it in 1994 Rochester Shire was amalgamated with Echuca and other surrounding shires to form the new Shire of Campaspe.

Drought and Flooding was an early problem for Rochester and the surrounding farming community. In 1890 the Campaspe Weir was completed on the Campaspe River about seven kilometres south of Rochester, around the turn of the century the then Water Supply Department constructed a weir on the Goulburn River near Nagambie with a diversion channel carrying water for storage in the Waranga Basin near Rushworth. The Waranga- Mallee Channel was completed in 1909 allowing Rochester access to Goulburn Valley water.

The availability of a reliable water supply led to a rapid expansion of farming activities including horticulture and cropping. After the Second World War dairying became established in the district as did tomato growing. Both industries have developed considerably and are important contributors to the area's economy today.

The map shows the locations where panoramic pictures were taken of some of Rochester sights. The map, photographs, and information form a guide to some of the attractions of Rochester.

179 north west of Melbourne