Pyramid Hill is a granite feature rising around 100 metres above the surrounding land, the traditional home of the Barapa Barapa, Dja Dja Wurung and Yorta Yorta Indigenous Language Groups.
The Hill received its modern name from the New South Wales Surveyor-General, Major Thomas Mitchell, on his third expedition to explore inland New South Wales. (The whole of eastern Australia then was known as New South Wales.)
Mitchell’s 1836 expedition, with 6 Aboriginal guides and 25 colonists and convicts often is called the Australia Felix expedition. This is because it was the one on which Mitchell and his party found rich, black soils and lush pastures in an area south of the Murray River, which he called Australia Felix.
From one angle, which must have been the one that impressed Major Mitchell, Pyramid Hill certainly appears to have the sharp summit which marks Egyptian pyramids. Mitchell and his party camped near the base of the hill on 29 June 1836.
 |
| View on old postcard Source: Victorian Places |
Back in Sydney in November 1836, the reports of the excellent land in Australia Felix started a rush of claims. The Pyramid Hill district was in the Mount Hope pastoral run, taken up in 1845. (It was from Mount Hope that Mitchell had sighted Pyramid Hill first.)
A hotel and a store were opened in 1874 near the foot of the Hill. A Catholic church was opened in 1875 and a one-room school in 1876.
The first burial in the Cemetery took place in 1875. Due to the building of Bendigo–Kerang railway, the town relocated 3 Km further west in the years 1883-84. So we can say that when the First Transport men arrived in January 1948, the small town had been at its permanent location for less than 65 years. This is much less than the hundreds of years of history in the towns from which they came.
The town is nearly 250 Km by road north north west of the State capital, Melbourne, and just over 300 Km west of the Bonegilla camp. The journey which Vaclavs Kozlovskis described in his diary, from Wodonga, would still take 3½ hours on modern roads.
A quarry southwest of the cemetery was working by about 1882. It was used to produce stone for the construction of the Bendigo–Kerang railway line, later extended to Swan Hill, with a spur track built across Bullock Creek so that ballast could be transferred directly from the quarry to the railway works.
 |
| This early cadastral plan shows a Reserve for Ballast towards the middle of the lower edge and Old Ballast Line (Dismantled) leading from the Reserve to Bullock Creek (here called Permanent Water); the area above and to the right of the Reserve, with Lacey and Rocks written on it, appears to be the location of the modern quarry (Click once on the image to see a larger, more legible version) Source: Plan supplied to Monika Kozlovskis by Pyramid Hill Historical Society, 1999 |
 |
| Reserve for Ballast on the older plan has become Pyramid Hill Bushland Reserve on this screenshot from Google Maps; only the area to the right of the Reserve shows signs of having been worked but it is shown as private property on the older plan; the modern quarry is at the top right of this screenshot Source: Google Maps |
After the advent of motor cars and the need for better roads, the old quarry was reopened and granite material used for road making.
In early August 1928, Pyramid Quarries and Concrete Ltd held an opening of their works when a large attendance of district residents evinced keen interest in the new industry.
The quarry has been in continual operation at its present site since 1937. It was acquired by a company which started locally in Kerang, E. B. Mawson & Sons Pty Ltd trading as Mawsons Concrete & Quarries, in 1952, so now is known as Mawson’s Quarry.
The First Transport men who were sent to that quarry in January 1948 were
| Name | Nationality |
|---|---|
| Persijs Arndts | Latvian |
| Vaclavs Kozlovskis | Latvian |
| Edgars Osis | Latvian |
| Pranas Bienkevicius | Lithuanian |
| Vytas Kuniciunas | Lithuanian |
| Antanas Martisius | Lithuanian |
| Lembit Koplus | Estonian |
 |
| Location of the current Pyramid Hill quarry relative to the town; the area outlined in green which touches Mawson's quarry is the Pyramid Hill Bushland Reserve while the area above and to the left, in dark solid green, is the cemetery Source: Mindat.org |
SOURCES
Argus (1928 ) ‘Pyramid Hill Quarry', Melbourne, 14 August, p 16, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3941807, accessed 23 January 2026.
Cluff, Caleb (2011) ‘Australia Felix — 175 years on’ ABC News, https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2011-09-24/australia-felix---175-years-on/6178812, accessed 23 January 2026.
Mawsons ‘Our Story, Building Partnerships Since 1912’ https://www.mawsons.com.au/history, accessed 23 January 2026.
Melbourne Playgrounds ‘Pyramid Hill — Hill Walk’ https://www.melbourneplaygrounds.com.au/pyramid-hill-hill-walk, accessed 23 January 2026.
Mindat.org ‘Pyramid Hill granite quarry (Mawson's Quarry), Pyramid Hill, Loddon Shire, Victoria, Australia’ https://www.mindat.org/loc-11201.html, accessed 23 January 2026.
Peakbagger.com ‘Pyramid Hill, Victoria’ https://www.peakbagger.com/peak.aspx?pid=136882, accessed 23 January 2026.
Victorian Places ‘Pyramid Hill’, https://www.victorianplaces.com.au/pyramid-hill, accessed 23 January 2026.
Wikipedia ‘Australia Felix’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_Felix, accessed 23 January 2026.
Wikipedia ‘Pyramid Hill, Victoria’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramid_Hill%2C_Victoria, accessed 23 January 2026.
Wikipedia ‘Thomas Mitchell (Explorer)’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Mitchell_(explorer), accessed 23 January 2026.
