Whitfield, Victoria

Infobox Australian Place | type = town
name = Whitfield
state = vic


caption = Main street
lga = Rural City of Wangaratta
postcode = 3733
est =
pop = 281
elevation=
maxtemp =
mintemp =
rainfall =
stategov = Benalla
fedgov = Indi
dist1 = 50
location1=Wangaratta
dist2 = 60
location2=Mansfield
dist3 = 245
location3=Melbourne [ [http://www.theage.com.au/news/victoria/whitfield/2005/02/17/1108500207604.html theage.com.au travel: Whitfield] ]

Whitfield is an agricultural township in the King Valley in north-eastern Victoria.

Overview

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. [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20040511091748/www.arts.monash.edu.au/ncas/multimedia/gazetteer/list/whitefield.html Australian Places: Whitfield] ] At the 2006 census, Whitfield and the surrounding area had a population of 281.Census 2006 AUS
id=SSC26989
name=Whitfield (State Suburb)
accessdate=2007-08-16
quick=on]

History

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. Citation
last = Premier Postal History | title = Post Office List | url = https://www.premierpostal.com/cgi-bin/wsProd.sh/Viewpocdwrapper.p?SortBy=VIC&country= | accessdate = 2008-04-11 ] The name Whitfield is believed to come form 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 2 many European immigrants settled in the area and grew tobacco.

Today

It is close to the township of Cheshunt and the localities of Rose River and Dandongadale. Local places of interest include Paradise Falls, Mount Cobbler, Lake William Hovell and Wabonga Plateau. Cascading waterfalls, clear mountain streams, wildflowers and spectacular views of the Alps are all features of the Wabonga Plateau-Mount Cobbler area of the Alpine National Park. There is a variety of tours and places of interest for day visitors as well as those staying longer. Bushwalking, 4WD touring and camping are all popular pastimes.

Mount Cobbler and the Wabonga Plateau area of the Alpine National Park are best 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 also provide interesting scenic routes to the area.

Transport

There is a link between Whitfield and Melbourne's famous 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. [http://whitfieldrail.netc.net.au/index.html] Some of the whistle stop name-boards such as Angleside, Claremont, Dwyer, Pieper and Jarrott can still be seen [ "The Wangaratta-Whitfield Line as I Knew It" Cleary, R [Lindsey, H.] Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, August, 1975 pp174-181] .

References

External links

* [http://www.ga.gov.au/bin/gazd01?rec=258230 Geoscience Australia Place names search: Whitfield]
* [http://www.fallingrain.com/world/AS/7/Whitfield.html FallingRain Map - elevation = 307m]