Kingston is a town in the Shire of Hepburn in Victoria, Australia, located just off the Midland Highway about 10 kilometres distance from Creswick, and is about 20 km from Daylesford.

Erosion during the Oligocene–Pliocene period, which occurred about 26 to 2 million years ago, led to the formation of gold deposits in the ancient valleys of the upper Loddon River.

The basalt layer, which is up to 100 metres thick over the ancient valleys, acts as a significant underground water source in the Kingston area.

The fertile soil covering the basalts, particularly around the volcanic cones such as Kingston's Spring Hill, is excellent for agriculture, and potatoes are the dominant crop in those areas.

Their country extended over lands from close to Bendigo to Avoca, from the Great Dividing Range to near Pyramid Hill and they were displaced by white settlement, with some retreating to Parker's Protectorate at Franklinford.

They lifted the house onto this frame with screw-jacks, and reinforced it to prevent damage during haulage by a team of eight to ten horses traveling at about 13km per day.

[7] Those who didn't move their houses flocked to Creswick on Saturday evenings to catch a train to Ballarat and returned early on Monday morning.

Long-time resident miners generally owned their houses, and with plenty of job opportunities and improved living conditions compared to the earlier rough times; carpenters and masons were earning 10 shillings per day, as demand for their services increased.

The council was taking steps to enhance the water supply in the borough, drawn from Bullarook Forest, and planning to build a new town-hall with funds borrowed from £5,000 bringing sustained employment opportunities for these laborers for some time to come.

[7] Kingston is at the foot of the round-topped Spring Hill which rises 518m above sea level, and was cleared of dense bush to its summit for cultivation before it became the site of intensive gold-mining.

Two of them had previously farmed land they purchased with proceeds of their mining in Daylesford, while Graham, known for the tragic story of his children lost in the bush,[8] was also involved.

The discovery yielded an extraordinarily rich find of 300 ounces of gold from just one horse-operated mining machine, seemingly originating from the Armagh Reef between the claim and Spring Hill.

He had been exploring the region for years, alternating between farming and mining, and convinced that gold lay beneath the basalt on the Spring Hill Plains.

Managed by Robert Veitch, previously of Daylesford, the mine employed over 80 workers and had yielded 7,886 ounces of high-quality gold by 5 November 1875.

Most of the mines in this area were owned by local farmers and residents of Kingston or Creswick, who kept the yields of their claims confidential; however the Argus reporter, investigating actual sales of gold to the banks in Creswick from leading claims, found that;Richardson's Western commenced to get gold on the 2nd January 1875, and up to the 6th of November had obtained 7,961oz., employing 80 men.

Nuggets have been found in these claims varying in size from a few ounces up to 120oz.-one which turned the scale at that figure having been obtained only a few weeks ago in the last-mentioned mine.

A company known as the De Murska - and therefore of very late formation - are sinking at a considerable distance north from Spring, hill, and expect to find in their ground not one, but the junction of several leads.

The Ristori and the O'Loghlen comprise three blocks of large extent, a portion of the Seven-hills estate, bought by Mr. Rossell, of Kingston, Mr. Parkins, and some Ballarat men, from Mr. Alexander Wilson, of the Wimmera, and both expect to leach gold before long.

So much confidence is felt in the district in the value of the known leads that a few weeks ago £1,000 was given for 114 acres of a freehold known as Dyke's, With a royalty of 7½%, and an under taking that work would be begun in December last.

The area's rich red volcanic soil and good rainfall support agricultural industries including potatoes (typically grown for food processor McCains), sheep and wheat.

'[12] Businesses, shops, and the primary school in 2004, closed after trade dwindled, initiating that vicious circle of decline faced by many country towns that is exacerbated by the consequent need to travel greater distances for basic services.

Holiday and business accommodation in Kingston is increasingly provided by bed and breakfast establishments as well as by the Commercial Hotel, reopened after a 12-year closure.

The location of Kingston between Daylesford and Ballarat, and its undulating rural outlook, has made it attractive to retirees, and also for city folk looking to buy weekenders or holiday houses, bringing new investment and stimulating the local economy.

Pumping operations were executed using a non-condensing horizontal steam engine with a 66cm cylinder, one of the largest of its kind ever installed in a Victorian mine.

The mullock dump at this mine is exceptionally well-preserved, and the shaft remains open, with one of the original boilers still present on the site.

The Ballarat architect Joseph Attwood Doane[20] designed it in 1868 in a simplified Lombardy Romanesque style with bichrome brickwork.

[21] In the Showgrounds off Church Parade (Kingston-Allendale Road), the Grandstand, constructed at Smeaton in 1902 and moved to its present location in 1922 for better railway access, is a well-preserved timber building with barrel vault and skillion corrugated iron roofs.