Best 28 Real Estate Agents In Marysville [2025]

Marysville Suburb Overview

Marysville is a small town, 34 kilometres north-east of Healesville, in the Shire of Murrindindi in Victoria, Australia. The town, which previously had a population of around 500 people, was devastated by the Murrindindi Mill bushfire on 7 February 2009. On 19 February 2009 the official death toll was 45. Around 90% of the town’s buildings were destroyed.

The town was established as a stopping point on the Yarra Track, the route to the Woods Point and Upper Goulburn goldfields, with a butcher’s shop and store in existence by the time the town was surveyed in 1864. It prospered following the reconstruction of the Yarra Track as an all weather dray and coach road under engineer Clement Wilks in the 1870s. It was named after Mary Steavenson, the wife of Assistant Commissioner of Roads and Bridges John Steavenson after whom the popular Steavenson Falls are named. The Marysville Post Office opened on 1 March 1865 followed by a school in 1870, and a public hall, library and mechanics institute in 1890. By the 1920s, Marysville had become a tourist destination, with the Marysville Tourist and Progress Association formed in 1924. Attractions promoted at the time were fern gullies, views, and walking tracks to Steavenson Falls. Twelve guest houses had been established by 1920, one of the best known of these being the Cumberland Guest House. At this time a rail service operated between Melbourne and nearby Healesville, and the town became a popular destination for couples on their honeymoon.

In 2004 a telemovie, Little Oberon starring Sigrid Thornton, was filmed in and around Marysville.

The town came under serious threat during the Black Friday bushfires in 1939, residents saw the fire cross from Mt Gorden to Mount Margaret. At that time only one house in Marysville belonging to Stan Postlethwaite was destroyed. The No.1 Mill 5 miles from Marysville was destroyed and the town of Narbethong was wiped out. The Ash Wednesday fires of 1983 also came close to Marysville but burnt around the town and caused no damage to property.

On 7 February 2009, a bushfire destroyed most of the town, including the primary school, police station, The Cumberland, and almost all of its houses.

Residents able to leave the town just prior to the fire were directed to a temporary relief centre at Alexandra High School. Others sheltered overnight in Gallipoli Park before being evacuated to Alexandra.

The entire town was declared a crime scene and was effectively closed off while Victorian and Federal police recovered bodies and conducted investigations. It was reopened to the public on 23 March.

The town is still viewable in Google Maps Street View which provides a virtual time-capsule tour of the area. Public Relations manager for Google Australia, Annie Baxter said: “We’ve received a number of requests to consider retaining the Street View imagery for fire-affected areas, and it’s something we’re looking into… There are no current plans to replace the existing imagery.” However, as of 26 January 2012, the Street View images had been replaced with post-fire images.

Marysville’s primary industry is tourism. Prior to the fire, it contained numerous cafes, art galleries, restaurants, and craft shops. It has been used as a base for the Lake Mountain ski resort. During the snow season, the population of the town has been known to double or even triple, due to the influx of other hospitality and tourism caterers, such as ski hire, toboggan hire, chain hire, and many other profitable ventures associated with snowplay and skiing. During Summer Marysville is frequented by many bikers, particularly on weekends. Marysville is cradled between two of Victoria’s best motorcycling roads, the Black Spur & The Reefton Spur. There are many tourist attractions throughout the area, such as Bruno’s Sculpture Garden, and Steavenson Falls. The town is also used as an access point to Yarra Ranges National Park and Upper Yarra Reservoir Park

According to the Wilderness Society, the local community has opposed logging, which threatened the area’s old growth forests and tourism. A large proportion of the logging and roading is in close vicinity to the Beech forests seen by tourists visiting the Lady Talbot Drive in the Upper Taggerty catchment. Marysville depends heavily on tourism for its economic prosperity and employment. In contrast, the agriculture, forestry and fishing industries combined accounted for less than three percent of the region’s employment in 1995.

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