In 1977, a suite of Victorian-era shops in Bakery Hill were slated for demolition to make way for a purpose-built McDonald’s restaurant.

While the buildings were not heritage listed, concerned residents formed the Save Bakery Hill Action Group to agitate against the destruction.

The area is also believed to be the site where the Eureka Flag was first unfurled on the 29th November, 1854, at a monster meeting attended by an estimated 10,000 people.

The activists faced their own battle in holding developers and the council at bay. They were compelled to keep a 24-hour watch over the site after an advertisement in The Courier offered the shops up for free building materials.

The Builders Labourers’ Federation (BLF), then led by the infamous Norm Gallagher, supported the activists by mandating a green ban on the project, preventing members from participating in development of the site.

McDonald’s ultimately decided to build a restaurant within the existing structures, becoming the first McDonald’s in the world to deviate from a standard style. Today, McDonald’s restaurants occupy heritage buildings across the world, from a converted 1930’s coffee palace in Porto, to a Georgian style mansion in New York.

The fight has come to be known as the Battle of Bakery Hill, linking the spirit of rebellion against British colonial oppression at Eureka, to the fight against a symbol of American capitalism over 120 years later. 

Do you have memories of the battle of Bakery Hill?