Drivers along the Chiltern-Rutherglen Road will be able to tell when they are passing through Christmastown, so named because gold was found there during the Christmas period of 1859.

Wodonga’s Kevin Draper, who farms cattle next to the road, wanted to increase awareness of the former settlement and its history and erected his sign on Saturday.

“Everyone refers to that area as Cornishtown, but it’s Christmastown, Cornishtown is just a bit further away,” he said.

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With gold printing, maroon background and green trim, the sign reads 1859 Christmastown Gold.

“The maroon and gold was my choice, the sign writer added the green in to add some extra colour,” Mr Draper said.

“People can either take it two ways, that sign, either the name of the property, the 100 acres, a lot of farms have got the name of the property, or else they can take it as the name of the district.”

A separate Indigo Council information sign nearby indicates Christmastown became the largest settlement on the Indigo goldfield, boasting banks, stores, hotels and other businesses.

“The population was to reach several thousand in a short time,” the council sign read.

According to eGold, an electronic encyclopedia of gold in Australia, it was hoped the Indigo gold lead might rival the Ballarat fields at one stage but this didn’t eventuate.

“Christmastown’s fortunes waxed and waned over the next 50 years of gold mining in the district,” eGold said.

Indigo Council’s sign is located on the third and final site of McKay’s Star Hotel, which was licensed in June 1860.

The hotel was the last surviving public house from the Indigo goldfield when it closed on June 30, 1919.

Mr Draper, 85, who bought his Christmastown property in the early 1970s, also has a long family history in the North East.

“I think it was 1857 when my great-great-grandparents came to Leneva,” he said.

 He was “100 per cent pleased” with his new sign, made by Deano’s Sign Language, Wodonga.