Point Lonsdale

Point Lonsdale is a coastal township on the Bellarine Peninsula, near Queenscliff, Victoria, Australia.

Point Lonsdale is a coastal township on the Bellarine Peninsula, near Queenscliff, Victoria, Australia. The town is divided between the Borough of Queenscliffe and the City of Greater Geelong. Point Lonsdale is also one of the headlands which, with Point Nepean, frame The Rip, the entrance to Port Phillip. The headland is dominated by the Point Lonsdale Lighthouse. At the 2016 census, Point Lonsdale had a population of 2,684. The population grows rapidly over the summer months through to the Easter period due to its popularity as a holiday destination.

The traditional owners of this area are the Wautharong people of the Kulin nation. The escaped convict William Buckley, the first known European to have lived in the area, lived with local Aborigines from 1803 to 1835. A signal station was built in 1854. Permanent European settlement began at Point Lonsdale in the latter half of the 19th century with the construction of a lighthouse in 1863 and the extension of the railway line from Geelong to Queenscliff in 1879. Since settlement, many ships have been wrecked on the rocky reefs at the entrance to Port Phillip.

The post office opened on 15 January 1902.The town is named after police officer William Lonsdale and is the birthplace of former Premier of Victoria Thomas Hollway.

Point Lonsdale contains several Victorian Heritage Register listed sites, including:

7 Glaneuse Road, Arilpa

57–73 Glaneuse Road, Ballara

2 Point Lonsdale Road, Point Lonsdale Lighthouse