Rochester

Rochester is a small town in rural Victoria, Australia.

Rochester is a small town in rural Victoria, Australia. It is located 180 km (110 mi) north of Melbourne with a mixture of rural and semi-rural communities on the northern Campaspe River,between Bendigo and the Murray River port of Echuca. At the 2016 census, Rochester had a population of 3,113.

The area around the Campaspe River was known as Yalooka, which for thousands of years was home to the Pinpandoor, the local tribe of Aboriginal Australians.

Rochester (via Rowechester) was named after Dr John Pearson Rowe, who had a hotel here before the township was gazetted in 1855.

The Post Office opened on 11 May 1863 and the town was reached by the railway line from Bendigo (connecting it to Melbourne) in 1864.The Rochester Magistrates' Court closed on 1 January 1990.The town the birthplace in 1904 of Australian racing and endurance cyclist, Sir Hubert Opperman, affectionately known as Oppy. There is a museum dedicated to Oppy in Moore street, and a statue of him winning the 24-hour Bol D'Or race in Paris in 1928. On his 90th birthday Oppy donated one of his trusty Malvern Star bicycles to the museum.