When Europeans first entered this area of southern Australia, they moved up the valley of the Olinda Creek (then called Running Creek because it was a perennial stream). The formal naming process began with the survey of Lilydale township by
John Hardy in 1859–60. At the same time that he named Lilydale, Hardy renamed the creek ‘Olinda’ after Alice Olinda Hodgkinson, daughter of Deputy Surveyor-General
Clement Hodgkinson. A major dam wall was built to create
Silvan Reservoir in 1926. This stopped water flowing into Olinda Creek at the northern end of the reservoir. A second, minor dam wall at the southern end stops water flowing into
Emerald Creek. ==Lillydale Lake==