| Whitfield Victoria | |
|---|---|
 Main street | |
  Whitfield | |
| Coordinates | 36°46′S146°25′E / 36.767°S 146.417°E |
| Population | 215 (2016 census) [1] |
| Postcode(s) | 3733 |
| Location |
|
| LGA(s) | Rural City of Wangaratta |
| State electorate(s) | Ovens Valley |
| Federal division(s) | Indi |
Whitfield is an agricultural township in the King Valley in north-eastern Victoria.
The township is immediately west of the flood-prone King River and has State Forest to its west and east. Agriculture extends along several stream valleys which are tributaries of the King River. [3] At the 2016 census, Whitfield and the surrounding area had a population of 215. [1]
Pastoral runs were established in the area in the 1840s but population was small until the 1870s, the Post Office opening on 1 May 1874 as Upper King River and being renamed Whitfield in 1889. [4] The name Whitfield is believed to come from the name of a pastoral run Whitefields. In the early 1900s Whitfield was the site of a Government experimental farm growing tobacco and hops. After World War II many European immigrants settled in the area and grew tobacco.
The township is close to nearby Cheshunt, Victoria, and the localities of Rose River and Dandongadale. Local places of interest include Paradise Falls, Mount Cobbler, Power's Lookout, Lake William Hovell and Wabonga Plateau. Waterfalls, mountain streams, wildflowers and views of the Alps are features of the Wabonga Plateau-Mount Cobbler area of the Alpine National Park. There are tours and places of interest for day visitors as well as those staying longer.[ citation needed ] Bushwalking, 4WD touring and camping are offered in the area.[ citation needed ]
Mount Cobbler and the Wabonga Plateau area of the Alpine National Park are often approached from Whitfield. From Melbourne, Whitfield can be reached via the Hume Highway to Wangaratta or via the Maroondah Highway to Mansfield and then via Tolmie. Roads from Benalla, Mansfield and Myrtleford.
Whitfield has a number of facilities as the principal town of the upper King Valley. It has a hotel/pub, Cafe Whitty (coffee shop & food), police station, golf course and caravan park. It is home of the King Valley football team competing in the Ovens and King Football League.
Tragedy struck the township when the only general store in town (which had recently been taken over by new owners) was destroyed in a fire early in 2013. [5]
There is a link between Whitfield and Melbourne's tourist railway Puffing Billy. In 1897 the Victorian Railways accepted the tender from the Baldwin Locomotive Works, Philadelphia, U.S.A. for narrow-gauge locomotives of the ‘A’ Class, (two 2 foot 6 inch-gauge locomotives) and the first two to be received were placed on the Whitfield/Wangaratta line construction project. Thus the line has the distinction of being the first narrow-gauge line to be built in Victoria. Some of the whistle stop name-boards such as Angleside, Claremont, Dwyer, Pieper and Jarrott can still be seen. There is now a bus service that has replaced the old train system, still taking the same route in and out of Wangaratta. The bus runs on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. [6]
The Mount Buffalo National Park is a national park in the alpine region of Victoria, Australia. The 31,000-hectare (77,000-acre) national park is located approximately 350 kilometres (220 mi) northeast of Melbourne in the Australian Alps. Within the national park is Mount Buffalo, a moderately high mountain plateau, with an elevation of 1,723 metres (5,653 ft) above sea level.
Wangaratta is a city in the northeast of Victoria, Australia, 236 km (147 mi) from Melbourne along the Hume Highway. The city had a population of 29,808 per the 2021 Australian Census.
Rail transport in the Australian state of Victoria is provided by a number of railway operators who operate over the government-owned railway lines. The network consists of 2,357 km of Victorian broad gauge lines, and 1,912 km of standard gauge freight and interstate lines; the latter increasing with gauge conversion of the former. Historically, a few experimental 762 mm gauge lines were built, along with various private logging, mining and industrial railways. The rail network radiates from the state capital, Melbourne, with main interstate links to Sydney and to Adelaide, as well as major lines running to regional centres, upgraded as part of the Regional Fast Rail project.
Moyhu is a small town in North East Victoria, Australia. It is situated in the fertile King Valley, near the King River, which flows from the Victorian Alps and joins the Ovens River in Wangaratta.
Bright is a town in northeastern Victoria, Australia, 319 metres above sea level at the southeastern end of the Ovens Valley. At the 2021 census, Bright had a population of 2,620. It is located in the Alpine Shire local government area.
The first railway in colonial South Australia was a line from the port of Goolwa on the River Murray to an ocean harbour at Port Elliot, which first operated in December 1853, before its completion in May 1854.
The Ovens River, a perennial river of the north-east Murray catchment, part of the Murray-Darling basin, is located in the Alpine and Hume regions of the Australian state of Victoria.
Mount Stirling is a mountain in the Victorian Alps of the Great Dividing Range, located in the Hume region of Victoria, Australia. The mountain has an elevation of 1,747–1,749 metres (5,732–5,738 ft) above sea level.
The King River, a perennial river of the North-East Murray catchment of the Murray-Darling basin, is located in the Alpine and Hume regions of Victoria, Australia. It flows from the northwestern slopes of the Alpine National Park in the Australian Alps, through the King Valley, and joining with the Ovens River at the rural city of Wangaratta.
Benalla railway station is located on the North East line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the town of Benalla, and it opened on 18 August 1873.
Wangaratta railway station is located on the North East line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the town of the same name, and opened on 28 October 1873.
The North East railway line is a railway line in Victoria, Australia. The line runs from Southern Cross railway station on the western edge of the Melbourne central business district to Albury railway station in the border settlement of Albury–Wodonga, serving the cities of Wangaratta and Seymour, and smaller towns in northeastern Victoria. The line is owned by VicTrack, but the standard gauge section leased to, and maintained by, the Australian Rail Track Corporation.
The former Victorian Railways, the state railway authority in Victoria, Australia, built a number of experimental 2 ft 6 in narrow-gauge lines around the beginning of the 20th century. Although all were closed by the early 1960s, parts of two have been reopened as heritage railways.
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 King Valley, or King River Valley is a wine-producing and agricultural region centred on the King River between Wangaratta and the Alpine National Park in the North East Victoria zone of the Australian state of Victoria. There are a number of small towns within the region including Cheshunt, Whitfield, King Valley, Edi, Claremont, Moyhu, Byrne, Docker and Oxley. King Valley was recorded as an Australian Geographical Indication protected name on 12 October 2007.
The Whitfield railway line was a 2 ft 6 in narrow gauge railway located in north-eastern Victoria, Australia, branching from the main North East railway at Wangaratta to the terminus of Whitfield.
Whorouly is a town in northeast Victoria, Australia. Its name is possibly derived from an Aboriginal word meaning a black cockatoo, although another suggestion is that it means "underwater".
Mount Cobbler is a mountain located in the Alpine National Park to the east of Mansfield in north-eastern Victoria, Australia. Its summit rises to 1,628 metres (5,341 ft) above sea level. The peak and surrounding Cobbler land system are composed of sedimentary rocks, dating to the Lower Carboniferous period, some 359 to 318 million years ago.
The Dandongadale River, a perennial river of the North-East Murray catchment of the Murray-Darling basin, is located in the Alpine region of Victoria, Australia. It flows from the northern slopes of the Alpine National Park in the Australian Alps, joining with the Buffalo River in remote national park territory.
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