Powelltown Victoria | |||||||||
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Main street | |||||||||
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Coordinates | 37°51′54″S145°45′11″E / 37.865°S 145.753°E | ||||||||
Population | 214 (2021 census) [1] | ||||||||
Postcode(s) | 3797 | ||||||||
Elevation | 189 m (620 ft) | ||||||||
Location | |||||||||
LGA(s) | Shire of Yarra Ranges | ||||||||
State electorate(s) | Electoral district of Eildon | ||||||||
Federal division(s) | Division of Casey | ||||||||
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Powelltown is a town in Victoria, Australia, 70 km east of Melbourne's central business district, located within the Shire of Yarra Ranges local government area. Powelltown recorded a population of 214 at the 2021 census. [1]
The first settlement was established in 1901 when H Blake founded the first timber mill known as Blake's Mill; later a larger mill was constructed and completed in 1913 by the Victorian Powell Wood Processing Company to harvest hardwood mountain ash in the Little Yarra Valley to fill its new government contracts. The logs were transported from the forests to the sawmills by tramway and from there to the railheads at Yarra Junction and Warburton. Renowned axemen like Shane Corr opened up the veins of timber with no more than an axe and a team of bullocks to fulfil his government contracts. The Post Office opened around 1904, as Blake's, and the settlement was renamed Powelltown in 1912. [2]
The Powelltown Tramway provided a passenger and goods service to Yarra Junction between 1913 and 1945.
Today, many of the trails constructed to transport timber have been opened up as walking trails and driving routes for tourists, including the Powelltown Tramway Rail Trail.
The town has an Australian Rules football team competing in the Yarra Valley Mountain District Football League. Despite its small population, Powelltown has produced a number of AFL former players including, Melbourne Demons forward Sean Charles and Western Bulldogs and Fremantle forward Daniel Hargraves. A relative of Charles, former West Coast Eagles defender David Wirrpanda also played junior football with the Powelltown Demons.
The town also has a cricket club that plays in the Ringwood and District Cricket Association.It features 2 senior teams that compete in the D.J Strachan Shield and the Adrian Hammond Shield.
Montrose is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 33 km east of Melbourne's central business district, located within the Shire of Yarra Ranges local government area. Montrose recorded a population of 6,900 at the 2021 census.
Yarra Junction is a town in Victoria, Australia, 55 km (34 mi) east from Melbourne's central business district, located within the Shire of Yarra Ranges local government area. Yarra Junction recorded a population of 2,875 at the 2021 census.
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Hurstbridge is a suburb in Melbourne, Australia, 28 km north-east of the Central Business District, located within the Shire of Nillumbik local government area. Hurstbridge recorded a population of 3,554 at the 2021 census.
Drouin is a town in the West Gippsland region, 90 kilometres (56 mi) east of Melbourne, in the Australian state of Victoria. Its local government area is the Shire of Baw Baw, and is home to the shire council’s headquarters despite being the second-largest town in the shire, behind neighbouring Warragul. The town’s name is believed to be an Aboriginal word meaning "north wind". New housing developments have accelerated the town's residential growth in recent years. As at the 2016 census, Drouin had a population of 11,887 people.
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Swifts Creek is a town in the Tambo Valley of East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. The town is on the Great Alpine Road between Omeo and Ensay, 379 kilometres (235 mi) east of the state capital Melbourne and 300 metres (980 ft) above sea level. The area was originally settled by Europeans in the gold rushes of the mid-1800s. At the 2011 census, Swifts Creek and the surrounding area had a population of 419, with a median age of 47.
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Yarra Junction was a railway station on the Warburton railway line east of Melbourne, Australia. The station operated until the line closed in 1965. The building was constructed in 1888 as the Lilydale railway station and was relocated to Yarra Junction in 1914, due to the provision of a new station at Lilydale. The building now houses the Upper Yarra Museum.
The Tyers Valley tramway was a 2 ft 6 in narrow-gauge timber tramway built by the Forests Commission of Victoria to exploit timber resources on the slopes of Mount Baw Baw, Victoria. At Collins Siding the tramway linked with the Victorian Railways' narrow-gauge line from Moe to Walhalla, and was built to the same 2 ft 6 in gauge.
The Powelltown tramway was a 3 ft narrow gauge tramway that operated between Powelltown and Yarra Junction, Victoria, Australia, between 1913 and 1945.
The Shire of Upper Yarra was a local government area centred on the upper reaches of the Yarra Valley, about 60 kilometres (37 mi) east of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia, extending eastwards into Victoria's interior. The shire covered an area of 1,732 square kilometres (668.7 sq mi), and existed from 1888 until 1994.
The Noojee railway line is a closed railway line in Victoria, Australia. Branching off from the Gippsland line at Warragul station, it was built to service the timber industry in the upper Latrobe River area, transporting timber as well as providing a general goods and passenger service to townships in the area. The final section of the line between Neerim South and Noojee traversed increasingly hilly terrain and featured a number of large timber trestle bridges. Extensively and repeatedly damaged by bushfires over the years, the line was closed in the 1950s and dismantled. The last remaining large trestle bridge on the line has been preserved and has become a popular local tourist attraction.
Gladysdale is a bounded rural locality in Victoria, Australia, on the Yarra Junction Noojee Road, located within the Shire of Yarra Ranges local government area. Gladysdale recorded a population of 423 at the 2021 census.
The Little Yarra River is a perennial river of the Port Phillip catchment, located in the Greater Metropolitan Melbourne region of the Australian state of Victoria.
Victoria has only ever had about 10 tunnels on its railway network, with some others on private narrow gauge tramways. This is due to the relatively easy terrain through which most of the lines were built.
Media related to Powelltown, Victoria at Wikimedia Commons