George Town Tasmania | |
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![]() The Watch House | |
Coordinates | 41°06′S146°49′E / 41.100°S 146.817°E |
Population | 4,347 (2016 census) [1] |
Established | 1804 |
Postcode(s) | 7253 |
Time zone | AEST (UTC+10) |
• Summer (DST) | AEDT (UTC+11) |
Location |
|
LGA(s) | George Town Council |
State electorate(s) | Bass |
Federal division(s) | Bass |
George Town (palawa kani: kinimathatakinta [2] ) is a large town in north-east Tasmania, on the eastern bank of the mouth of the Tamar River. The Australian Bureau of Statistics records the George Town Municipal Area had a population of 6,764 as of 30 June 2016.
It is the regional centre of the George Town Council local government area and is well served with a Regional Hospital, supermarkets, and infrastructure.
The area now occupied by George Town has been inhabited by Aboriginal Tasmanians since, at least, 7000 BP [3] and possibly as long ago as 43000 BP.
Early observation of the Tamar River occurred in 1798 when Bass and Flinders sailed into the river during their circumnavigation of Tasmania. The estuarine river was named Port Dalrymple and the location that would become George Town was referred to as Outer Cove. William Collins, in January 1804, led an 18-day exploration of the river to determine the best site for a settlement. In November 1804, Colonel William Paterson arrived with four ships with 181 people, convicts, soldiers, and one free settler and the settlement was established at Outer Cove. Subsequently the main settlement moved to the west arm of the river and then to the river head, some 50 km south, named Launceston. When, in 1811, Governor-In-Chief Lachlan Macquarie toured Tasmania he moved the settlement back to Outer Cove and named it George Town after King George III. [4] The populace were reluctant to relocate and building the town in earnest did not begin until 1819. Because of the needs of maintaining a defensible position at the mouth of the river, regardless of the notional main settlement location, the George Town area has been continuously occupied since 1804, making it one of the earliest European settlements in Australia. [5]
1822 - George Town Post Office opened, [6] Mr. W Brown is appointed postmaster on 11 October 1822 [7]
1825 - Tamar Valley semaphore system [8]
1869 - Eastern Extension Telegraph Cable connects Tasmania to the Australian mainland [9]
The Basslink 400 Kilovolt high-voltage direct current submarine cable connecting Tasmania to the National Electricity Market, terminates in George Town.
In 2007 Alinta built the Tamar Valley Power Station a 200 MW gas-fired power station in the vicinity of George Town creating 200 direct and 100 indirect jobs during construction, and generating electricity from 2009. [11]
Nearby Bell Bay has an aluminium and manganese smelter, as well as the port.
George Town has 3 schools:
Gunns Limited had proposed a pulp mill to be built in the area in 2006, however Gunns entered receivership in 2013, with large debt and the mill did not proceed as the company assets were sold.
George Town Council is developing 80 km of purpose built mountain bike trails over two separate networks - one on the flanks of Mount George near the town centre and the second in the Tippogoree Hills, five-kilometres south of the township. The project is anticipated to be completed by December 2021. [13]
"The Grove" Georgian home built in 1829 attracts many visitors, as does the 1805 convict built pilot station at Low Head.
George Town is also a popular seaside destination for swimming, surfing, and fishing and boating enthusiasts.
George Town is home to a Little Penguin colony at the nearby beach at Low Head.
The George Town Football Club, George Town Bowls Club, George Town Junior Soccer Club and the George Town Cricket Club are notable among its clubs and associations.
The Bass and Flinders Centre has a collection of historical boats including a replica of the 1798 sloop Norfolk. [14]
The Watch House in Macquarie street built in 1843 was the town gaol. The building was refurbished and reopened in 2004 as a gallery and local history museum. It features a scale model of the town as it was in the early nineteenth century. [15]
George Town is home to a vibrant arts community. The Lighthouse Regional Arts group hold a yearly art show, have local and interstate travelling displays at the Watch House and have permanent displays of art at the Bass and Flinders centre, the Low Head pilot station [16] and the Jim Mooney Gallery. [17]
The George Town RSL Military Museum/display in Macquarie Street is one of Tasmania's more diverse Military Museums and has a large static display from conflicts ranging from the 1880s to present day. The collection covers both Australian and overseas militaria and history as well as possibly the only collection of Third Reich artifacts on display in the state.
George Town has a local radio station – Tamar FM 95.3 [18] which is a community radio station generally playing music and advertising local businesses.
Some main events that happen annually in George Town include:
Notable people from or who have lived in George Town include:
Tasmania is an island state of Australia. It is located 240 kilometres to the south of the Australian mainland, separated from it by the Bass Strait, with the archipelago containing the southernmost point of the country. The state encompasses the main island of Tasmania, the 26th-largest island in the world, and the surrounding 1000 islands. It is Australia's least populous state, with 569,825 residents as of December 2021. The state capital and largest city is Hobart, with around 40% of the population living in the Greater Hobart area. Tasmania is the most decentralised state in Australia, with the lowest proportion of its residents living within its capital city.
Councils of Tasmania are the 29 administrative districts of the Australian state of Tasmania. Local government areas (LGAs), more generally known as councils, are the tier of government responsible for the management of local duties such as road maintenance, town planning and waste management.
The Aboriginal Tasmanians are the Aboriginal people of the Australian island of Tasmania, located south of the mainland. At the time of European contact Tasmanian Aboriginals were divided into a number of distinct ethnic groups. For much of the 20th century, the Tasmanian Aboriginal people were widely, and erroneously, thought of as extinct and intentionally exterminated by white settlers. Contemporary figures (2016) for the number of people of Tasmanian Aboriginal descent vary according to the criteria used to determine this identity, ranging from 6,000 to over 23,000.
Launceston is a city in the north of Tasmania, Australia, at the confluence of the North Esk and South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River (kanamaluka). As of 2021, the Launceston urban area has a population of 90,953. Launceston is the second most populous city in Tasmania after the state capital, Hobart. As of 2020, Launceston is the 18th largest city in Australia. Launceston is the fifth-largest inland city and the ninth-largest non-capital city in Australia. Launceston is regarded as the most livable regional city, and was one of the most popular regional cities to move to in Australia from 2020 to 2021. Launceston was named Australian Town of the Year in 2022.
Truganini, also known as Lallah Rookh was an Aboriginal Tasmanian woman. She was one of the last native speakers of the Tasmanian languages and although not the last living full-blooded Tasmanian Aboriginal, she is one of the last individuals solely of Aboriginal Tasmanian descent.
The history of Tasmania begins at the end of the Last Glacial Period when it is believed that the island was joined to the Australian mainland. Little is known of the human history of the island until the British colonisation of Tasmania in the 19th century.
The Tamar River, officially kanamaluka / River Tamar, is a 70-kilometre (43-mile) estuary located in northern Tasmania, Australia. Despite being called a river, the waterway is a brackish and tidal estuary over its entire length.
Flinders Island, the largest island in the Furneaux Group, is a 1,367-square-kilometre (528 sq mi) island in the Bass Strait, northeast of the island of Tasmania. Today Flinders Island is part of the state of Tasmania, Australia. It is 54 kilometres (34 mi) from Cape Portland and is located on 40° south, a zone known as the Roaring Forties.
Longford is a town in the northern midlands of Tasmania, Australia. It lies 145 m above sea level at the convergence of the Macquarie River and the South Esk River, 21 km south of Launceston and a 15-minute drive from the airport. It is just south of the Illawarra Road, a road connecting the Bass and Midland Highways. It has a population of 3,863 and is part of the Northern Midlands Council area. The region is predominantly agricultural, noted for wool, dairy produce and stock breeding.
Wynyard (/ˈwɪnjɚd/) wi-nyuhd) is a rural town located on the North West coast of Tasmania, Australia. Wynyard is situated 17 kilometres (11 mi) west of Burnie. As of the 2021 census, Wynyard has an estimated population of 6,296 The town is a regional hub servicing the surrounding rural areas, the adjacent Burnie Wynyard Airport provides commercial flights to Melbourne and other districts. The main council offices for the Waratah-Wynyard local government area are located in Wynyard.
Low Head is a rural residential locality in the local government area (LGA) of George Town in the Launceston LGA region of Tasmania. The locality is about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) north of the town of George Town. The 2016 census recorded a population of 572 for the state suburb of Low Head. It is a suburb of George Town, on a peninsula at the mouth of the Tamar River.
Ben Lomond is a mountain in the north-east of Tasmania, Australia.
The South Esk River, the longest river in Tasmania, is a major perennial river located in the northern region of Tasmania, Australia.
The North Esk River is a major perennial river located in the northern region of Tasmania, Australia.
Evandale is an historic town in northern Tasmania, Australia. It sits on the banks of the South Esk River, 18 km south of Launceston. Named after early colonial explorer and Surveyor-General George Evans, the town is famous for its late-Georgian and early-Victorian buildings with relatively untouched streetscape, a popular Sunday market and as a host to the annual national Penny Farthing Bicycle Championships. At the 2016 census, Evandale had a population of 1,345.
The 30-ton sloop Rebecca was launched in 1834, built by Captain George Plummer at his boatyard on the banks of the Tamar River at Rosevears, Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania).
Campbell Town is a town in Tasmania, Australia, on the Midland Highway. At the 2021 census, the town had a population of 823.
Mount Barrow is a mountain in the northern region of Tasmania, Australia. With an elevation of 1,406 metres (4,613 ft) above sea level, the mountain is located 22 kilometres (14 mi) east-north-east of Launceston. The mountain habitat is a mixture of temperate old growth rainforest, subalpine and alpine landscapes.
Low Head Lighthouse is in Low Head, Tasmania, about 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) north of George Town on the east side of the mouth of the Tamar River. It was the third lighthouse to be constructed in Australia, and it is also Australia's oldest continuously used pilot station. This light is now unmanned and automated.
Table Cape is an extinct volcano located near Wynyard on the North West of Tasmania, Australia, it is also the name of the locality which encompasses the geological feature. Table Cape is a more or less circular extinct volcano with a flat top, its northern and eastern faces rise steeply from Bass Strait to a height of approximately 170 metres (560 ft) above sea level. It was named by British navigator, Matthew Flinders, as he and George Bass circumnavigated Van Diemen's Land in 1798 upon the Norfolk. Flinders also progressively named the nearby Circular Head, Three Hummock and Hunter Islands.