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ROADS
Before the gold discoveries in 1851, the roads in Victoria were no more than rough bush tracks, most of them passable only in the dry seasons. Coach services were few and irregular. Soon after the beginning of the gold rush, coach services were established between Melbourne and the main goldfields. In October 1851, coach services began to Ballarat, but during the winter months the roads were so bad that the coach services had to be suspended, and the mails taken by pack horse.
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In 1854 four young Americans, Freeman Cobb, John Murray Peck, John B. Laniber and James Swanton, established a carrying business under the name of Cobb and Co., between Melbourne and Sandridge (Port Melbourne).
PICTURE: CHINESE MINERS ON THEIR WAY TO THE GOLDFIELDS ON A COBB & CO COACH C. 1855.
Later, they ran coaches -"the American Telegraph Line" - to Forest Creek (Castlemaine) and Bendigo.
Freeman Cobb, a Californian, was a typical American hustler. He and his partners had plenty of capital, and they spared no expense in obtaining the best horses and the most suitable types of coaches for the rough colonial roads, in which the vehicles often had to plough along axle-deep in mud.
By the end of 1854 Victoria had the best system of roads in Australia, with toll gates erected on all highways leading to the gold fields.
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