Suburb by suburb snapshot Rochester

Rochester is approximately 86.4 square kilometres and has nine parks covering nearly 4.3 per cent of total area.

The population of Rochester in 2016 was 3100 and by the 2021 Census had increased slightly to 3154 people, showing an increase of 1.7 per cent in the area during that time.

Rochester a scenic rural town, steeped in history, that is located 60 kilometres from Bendigo and 25 kilometres south of Echuca.

It is on the Northern Highway and the railway to Echuca, and the main section of the town is on the west side of the Campaspe River.

In 1846 John Rowe took up a pastoral run along the Campaspe River and later built an inn east of present-day Rochester.

A small settlement formed around the inn and was known as Rowe’s Camp and a township was surveyed at Rowe’s Camp and was named Rowechester.

In 1855 the name was shortened to Rochester, nine years later the railway line from Bendigo to Echuca was opened through Rochester, and the year after in 1865 a school was opened for the district’s settlers.

The Rochester district was part of the Echuca Shire which extended eastwards to Yarrawonga.

Within 15 years a series of severances reduced Echuca Shire to an area which became Rochester Shire in 1909.

As Echuca borough was a separate entity, Rochester became the Shire’s administrative centre by 1880.

The township moved from east of the river to develop around the railway station on the other side.

It had Presbyterian and Bible Christian churches, the shire hall, a flour mill, bank branches, several hotels and an array of shops.

In 1893 the Rochester Waterworks Trust was formed to draw irrigation water from the Campaspe.

Between 1910 and World War Two Rochester’s population was about 1500 people.

It became a district centre for the irrigation area to its west, notwithstanding the growth of Lockington.

A municipal saleyard was opened in 1911, a new bridge was built over the Campaspe River in 1915, the Strand picture theatre was opened 1918 and Rochester’s football team became a force in the Bendigo League after joining in 1915.

In 1943 the Advance Rochester and District Association was formed, bringing a Housing Commission estate and a War Memorial Hospital opened in 1952.

The Returned Services League had opened a memorial hall in 1920, and in 1952 it acquired a two-storey mansion, Burneway House, for a war veterans’ home.

Rochester has a museum dedicated to the endurance cyclist, Sir Hubert Opperman who was born in the town.

CoreLogic data indicates that the predominant age group in Rochester is 50-59 years with households being primarily childless couples and are likely to be repaying on average $1083 per month on mortgages.

In general, people in Rochester work in a managerial occupation.