Planned development began in June 1860 when, following a second rush to the diggings, Homebush was surveyed and its streets laid out.

The map shows, the land subdivisions, some buildings and the location of the Star Hotel and the Wesleyan Chapel.

By 1884 Homebush was firmly established as a business centre, with two agents, a bootmaker, a butcher, two carpenters, two contractors, nine farmers, a gardener, a registrar, a station master, a storekeeper, and a teacher.

[6] In 1883 Vale's Reef mine, one of the district's largest, closed for lack of capital, and over the next decade many other companies also ceased operations.

In 1909 the Excelsior Company opened in Homebush and reputedly yielded rich returns from relatively small quantities of quartz, but by 1920 all large-scale gold mining activity in Avoca shire had ended.

[4] The Pyrenees Shire Council has documented the history of the Lower Homebush Primary School, in the Avoca Heritage Study: 1864 - 1994 - Volume 3.