Serving as the social hub for small towns across Australia, public halls were often referred to as The Mechanics’ Institute.
This name predominately dates back to England where they began as educational establishments. They were originally formed to provide adult education, particularly in technical subjects, to working men in Victorian-era Britain and its colonies.
However, in Australia, they quickly became the venue for community events such as games nights, fundraising, community meetings and receptions for weddings, debutante balls and parties.
One use of these halls was for town dances, a regular feature in the life of the community. The music was generally provided by local residents, sometimes just a piano player and sometimes with a community band.
By the early 1900s, Longwarry was no different. The Mechanics’ Institute was used for all of these activities, but perhaps the most well received were the regular dances. Locals could gather and the young men of the town could get together socially with the young women and, in many cases, find a future husband or wife.
In fact, Longwarry has a long history of dances in its hall, which continues to this day with Monday night dancing and regular monthly Saturday night events.

Longwarry Hall late 1950’s

Possibly the only period of time when dancing disappeared was in the early 1950s when the Longwarry Mechanics’ Institute burnt down.
However, the local residents refused to take this set-back lightly and, by 1953, a new, bigger brick building – the envy of many neighbouring communities – was built.
Since then, a large supper room has been added, a library – now a community meeting room – and the RSL rooms that opened in 1961.
The forethought of the community hall committee to build such a large structure has been evident ever since. The facility has hosted functions of all types, large and small, and has been hired by many other neighbouring town organisations.
To have such a wonderful facility no doubt enabled Longwarry to host the pinnacle of local dances during the late 1960s into the 1970s.
Many locals still remember it as the place to go on a Saturday night. Apart from locals enjoying a night of music and dancing, buses were charted to bring patrons from as far away as Moe and Pakenham to enjoy a night in the Longwarry Hall.
Crowds of 600 people were common and even larger crowds attended when pop stars and recording artists from Melbourne were booked to perform.
The one night that so many remember was when “Daddy Cool” came to play in 1971. Booked much earlier in their career, before they rose to star status, the band honoured their contract and thrilled nearly 3000 patrons who paid for tickets to hear them play.
In fact, not all of those who had tickets could fit into the hall, and many stood outside to listen to the band.

Catholic Ball Longwarry Hall 1936

The current Hall is on Crown Land and is administered by a hall committee. The local Council has no input into the running of the hall or its funding. Funds are raised by the letting out of the hall to community members for various occasions. The committee oversee all operations of the hall. This makes the Longwarry Hall quite unique, in as much as it is a community asset, one to be cherished, and will hopefully remain as such. Support of the Hall is vital to its continued existence as a community venue.

The hall is still very much a community hub today. The large supper room is currently the home of Longwarry Lions Foodbank, and dances and receptions are still held. The RSL, senior citizens, history group, an informal coffee group, community lunches and community information events are all a part of the very busy schedule at the Longwarry Public Hall.