History
Sovereign Hill is located on the site of one of Ballarat's major gold diggings. The discovery on August 21, 1851 by James Dunlop and James Reagan that sparked the Ballarat Gold Rush was at the base of the hill a couple of hundred metres from Sovereign Hill park and the "Welcome" nugget—found by a group of Cornish miners in 1858, and being the second largest gold nugget in the world—was also found in Ballarat in the Red Hill mine which is recreated in Sovereign Hill. The Welcome Nugget weighed 69 kg,(2,200 ounces) and contained 99% pure gold, valued at about 10,500 pounds when found, and worth over US$3 million in gold now, or far more as a specimen.
The idea of Sovereign Hill was floated in Ballarat in the 1960s, as a way to preserve historic buildings, and to recreate the gold diggings that made the city. The complex was officially opened to the public on Sunday 29 November 1970.
Main street is loose reconstruction of Main Street, Ballarat East which was once the settlement's main street, consisting of timber buildings. It was consumed in a large fire during the 1860s and a more substantial town centre planned around Sturt and Lydiard Street in Ballarat West.
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