The township of Anakie is situated between Geelong and Bacchus March, and is housed at the foothills of the Brisbane Ranges. The ranges are made up of three hills known as the Three Sisters. The local Aboriginal people called them ‘Anyayi’ which translates as ‘multiple birth’ or ‘triplets’. They were originally known as ‘the three brothers’, but this was changed to ‘the three sisters’ – Elaine, Maude and Meredith.
Anakie was the last town of Corio Shire to be established. The first settlement in our area was Frederick Griffin’s Station, until the subdivision of his land in the 1850’s. Unlike most other towns in the early European settlement of Victoria, Anakie was formed by schools and churches. The town housed a hotel, a Presbyterian Church and two schools. A Common School was built in 1871 on land donated by the Presbyterian Church, and this school became State School No 1910 in 1874.
At this time Anakie was in the Meredith Shire, although moves were afoot among the residents to have Anakie severed from Meredith and added to the Corio Shire.
The population of the village and neighborhood fell from around 500 in 1856 to 200 in 1879. This was probably due to many who had tried their hand at farming and gave up in the struggle.
Today, the land around Anakie is occupied by grazing, crops, and vineyards.