The township of Drysdale is situated on the Bellarine Peninsula east of Geelong. Drysdale takes its name from Miss Ann Drysdale who established a squatting run with her partner Caroline Newcomb in the local district in the early 1840s. Their homestead, "Coriyule", is on the Heritage Register.

The land around Drysdale was sold by the Crown in 1848 and township allotments were also available for sale until the 1880s. The area was an important farming region with sheep and grain crops predominating. Onions, potatoes and other vegetables were also grown in areas with better soils and these crops were sent to markets in Victorian and New South Wales via the pier at Portarlington or sent by train on the Queenscliiff Rail line which opened in 1879. Once connected by rail to Geelong and then to Melbourne the town progressed rapidly with schools, banks, churches, halls, the telegraph office and council offices soon being opened in the 1880s.

The Drysdale Free Library was built in 1881 and was a typical structure of the period for that purpose. Mechanics Institutes were the precursor to the free public library and served as a focal point for the community offering a library collection suited to the working man, reading rooms, and offered many opportunities for self education. They often held public lectures, concerts, games nights and operated on a subscription basis, usually having the various newspaper of the day available to read as well as books. Once libraries became free and public many of these Institute buildings were then used for other public purposes.

The Drysdale Mechanics Institute is now the home of the Drysdale First Scouts Group who uses the hall and adjoining sheds while the Drysdale Community Craft shop occupies the front two rooms facing onto the main street. The building has been extensively restored by the Mint Inc in 2006-07.

Renovations Floor Plan