Town by town snapshot – Rochester

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

The population in 2011 was 3135 people and by the 2016 Census it was 3100 showing, a slight population decline of 1.1 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 line 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 the town, and the year after that a school was opened for the district’s settlers.

The Rochester district was part of the Echuca Shire (1871) 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 River.

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 in 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 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 sports museum dedicated in part to endurance cyclist Sir Hubert Opperman who was born in the district.

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 $1000 – $1399 per month on mortgages.

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

In 2011, 77.5 per cent of the homes in Rochester were owner-occupied compared with 76.3 per cent in 2016.

TIDBIT:

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

Population: 3100

Male: 48.2%

Female: 51.8%

Median age: 36

5-year population change: -1.1%

House median value: $426,000

Change in Median Price: (5yrs) is 50.2%

Median asking rent per week: $280

Average length of ownership: 12 years

Owner occupiers: 79%

Renters: 21%

House median sale price:

March 2022: $383,125

March 2021: $262,000

March 2020: $250,000

March 2019: $224,250

March 2018: $235,500

House sales per annum:

Period ending March 2022: 76

Period ending March 2021: 78

Land median sale price:

March 2022: $211,000

March 2021: $118,000

Land sales per annum:

Period ending March 2022: 10

Period ending March 2021: 10