The first European explorers to pass through the Wangaratta area were Hume and Hovell (1824) who named the Oxley Plains immediately south of Wangaratta.[6]Major Thomas Mitchell during his 1836 expedition made a favourable report of its potential as grazing pasture. The first squatter to arrive was Thomas Rattray in 1838 who built a hut (on the site of the Wangaratta RSL) founding a settlement known as "Ovens Crossing".
The Post Office in the area opened on 1 February 1843 as Ovens. The Ovens office, and the Kilmore office which opened the same day, were the fifth and sixth to open in the Port Phillip District and the first two inland offices.[7]
The name Wangaratta was given by colonial surveyor Thomas Wedge in 1848 after the "Wangaratta" cattle station, the name of which is believed to have been derived from an indigenous language and meaning "nesting place of cormorants" or "meeting of the waters".[8] The first land sales occurred shortly afterward and the population at the time was around 200. The first school was established by William Bindall on Chisholm Street with 17 students.
Gold was found nearby at Beechworth in February 1852 and by the end of the year more than 8,000 prospectors rushed the fields of Ovens and Beechworth. Wangaratta became a major service centre to these goldfields. As a result, the first bridge over the Ovens was completed in early 1855.
A seven-member council incorporated the Borough of Wangaratta on 19 June 1863.
The 1870s saw the settlement establish a number of key infrastructure and services including the first water supply. Wangaratta hospital was opened in 1871 and the fire brigade was established in 1872. The railway to Melbourne was opened on 28 October 1873.
On 28 June 1880 in the nearby small town of Glenrowan, located some 10 km away, the final shootout that led to the capture of Australia's most famous bushranger, Ned Kelly occurred.
In 1884, the railway was connected through to Sydney.
The population at the turn of the century reached 2,500 and the centre had developed an imposing streetscape of hotels, commercial public and religious buildings.
Cr George Handley, Mayor and Hubert Opperman in Wangaratta, November 15, 1927 after Opperman won the first stage of the Dunlop Grand Prix
George Handley (Mayor) and Duke of Gloucester on his visit to Wangaratta October 22, 1934
Bruck textile mills was established in 1946, employing over a thousand workers.[10]
Wangaratta was proclaimed a city on April 12, 1959 with a population of 12,000 people. New municipal offices were opened in 1980 which became the headquarters of the Rural City of Wangaratta after the amalgamation of municipalities in 1995.
Population
According to the 2021 census of Population, there were 29,808 people in Wangaratta.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 1.9% of the population.
84.6% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were England 1.9%, Italy 1.0% and New Zealand 0.7%.
89.0% of people spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Italian at 1.4%.
The most common responses for religion were No Religion 41.7%, Catholic 23.6% and Anglican 12.0%.[11]
Geography and landmarks
The geographical layout of the city is unusual in that the business district is located at the north-eastern extremity of the urban area, with outlying suburbs extending only to the south and west. The reason for this arrangement is that the area beyond the rivers, to the north and east of the business district, was until the 1990s prone to flooding and so unsuitable for building. Levees were constructed in the 1990s to alleviate the flooding, however development in this area has been slow.
Rain falls as thunderstorms in the summer, and in winter with cold fronts. Occasional severe heat waves are caused by hot, dry air from the central deserts of Australia moving over the area. Temperatures of 40 °C (104 °F) and slightly above occur 2–4 times a year on average; however, heatwaves are often succeeded by cold fronts, which cause a significant drop in the temperature. Wangaratta has cool nights and mornings in the summer, due in part to its western longitude exposing it to cold airmasses off the Southern Ocean. The city gets 105.1 clear days annually, which is akin to Sydney and Wollongong, however the distribution is wildly different; Wangaratta being much sunnier from December to March, but the inverse from May to September.
Rainfall averages out to 613.6 millimetres (24.16 in) a year, most of which falls in winter with cold frontal showers; however these can occur at any time of year; and the main form of rainfall in late spring and summer is that from thunderstorms. Extreme temperatures have ranged from 45.8 °C (114.4 °F) on 3 January 1990 and again on 7 February 2009 to −7.2 °C (19.0 °F) on 14 June 2006.
Climate data for Wangaratta Aero (1987–2022); 153 m AMSL; 36.42° S, 146.31° E
Source 1: Bureau of Meteorology, Wangaratta Aero (1991–2020)[14]
Source 2: Bureau of Meteorology, Wangaratta Aero (all years)[15]
Governance
Government Centre
In local government, the Wangaratta region is covered by the Rural City of Wangaratta. The council was created in 1994 as an amalgamation of a number of other municipalities in the region with the council chambers located at the Government Centre in central Wangaratta. The city is represented by seven councillors elected once every four years by postal voting. The mayor is elected from these councillors by their colleagues for a one-year term.
In September 2013 the council was sacked by the state government. Victorian Local Government Minister Jeanette Powell said this was because "Council has failed to provide effective leadership and service for the community". The council will be replaced by an administrator who will serve until the 2016 local government elections.[16]
The city hosted several games for the 2005 Australian Football International Cup event, with several countries competing in the sport of Australian rules football. The event was played at the City Oval and Showgrounds and set the attendance records for the tournament to date.
Cricket in Wangaratta is organised by the Wangaratta and District Cricket Association. Clubs include City Colts, Wangaratta-Magpies & Rovers United Bruck.[25]
Wangaratta Knights play rugby league in NRL Victoria.
Wangaratta has a horse racing club, the Wangaratta Turf Club, which schedules around eleven race meetings a year including the Wangaratta Cup meeting in April.[26]
The Wangaratta Greyhound Racing Club, which held regular meetings at the same venue, has been discontinued. Avian Park is no longer used.[27]
Golfers play at the course of the Wangaratta Golf Club on Yarrawonga Road,[28] or at the course of the Jubilee Golf Club at Wangandary nearby.[29] A nine-hole course is at Boorhaman to the north of Wangaratta.[30]
Between 1953 and 1956, the North Eastern Car Club ran motor racing meetings on the gravel and earth airstrip located on Wangarratta Common, south of the town centre.[31] The circuit ran up and down the airstrip, with a loop at the western end.[32]
The North East Windsport Club regularly sail "Land Yachts" called Blokarts (Blo-karts) at their sailing site at the nearby town of Springhurst, Victoria,
The city is home to the Northeast Bushrangers who play in the Big V basketball league. They play their home games at the Wangaratta YMCA.[33]
Events
The main annual event is the Wangaratta Festival of Jazz, which attracts renowned international acts and has been attended by thousands each year since 1990. Ales on the Ovens Craft Beer Festival is another main attraction for the town.
Education
Wangaratta has three secondary schools: Galen Catholic College (private), Cathedral College (private) and Wangaratta High School which has three campuses.
Wangaratta has seven primary schools: Our Lady's Catholic Primary School, Appin Park Primary School, Wangaratta West Primary School, Yarrunga Primary School, St. Bernand's Primary School, St. Patrick's Primary School, and Wangaratta (Chisolm Street) Primary School
Wangaratta also has its own specialist school for people with disabilities, Wangaratta District Specialist School
The Goulburn Ovens Institute of TAFE has two Wangaratta campuses. The Docker street campus offers a broad range of courses from business studies to music with a central area containing a cafeteria, library and student services. The Christensens Lane campus on the outskirts of Wangaratta is the home for the National Centre for Equine Education as well as providing courses in horticulture.
In 2015 the Christensens Lane campus moved to a bigger site in Tone Road. And in 2016 Charles Sturt University also added a campus there. The old Christensens Lane campus was then dismantled to make way for a new housing estate.
Roads are the most used transport infrastructure in Wangaratta. The Hume Freeway (M31) bypasses the city to the south and east, while the C314 now forms the main road through it (as Murphy Street and Wangaratta Road). The city is located at the junction of several other major roads, the Great Alpine Road (B500), Wangaratta-Yarrawonga Road (C374), Wangaratta-Whitfield Road (C521) and Wangaratta-Kilfeera Road (C523). A city bus service runs every half an hour during the day on weekdays and on Saturday mornings on a route covering Wangaratta's West End, the business district, Yarrunga and more recently, Yarrawonga Road.
Historically, Wangaratta was the busy junction of several railway branch lines including; the broad gauge 5' 3"Yackandandah railway line, a narrow gauge 2' 6" Whitfield railway line and the broad gauge 5' 3" Bright and Beechworth railway line, all of which have since closed. Another short 5' 3" gauge branch line ran west to a wheat silo located on the north side of the Ovens River at Boorhaman. The current rail line through the town is the 4' 8" standard gauge rail opened in 1962.
Wangaratta is also serviced by a small regional airport, Wangaratta Airport.
Environmental issues
Van Hessen Australia is an Australian sausage skin manufacturer whose factory is situated on Shanley street in Wangaratta and impacted local communities with odour pollution in 2022. More than 160 reports were received in 2 months by EPA Victoria.[34]
The smell was due to Van Hessen's private wastewater treatment system which included desludging activities and upset conditions in the wastewater treatment pond. The company exceeded its licence boundary and received several notices from EPA to prevent further smell and maintain stable conditions.[35]
In December 2023, Van Hessen was found guilty in court and was ordered to provide $75,000 to an environmental improvement project in South Wangaratta.[36]
Larsen, Wal. The Mayday Hills Railway, Wal Larsen, Bright, 1976.
O'Callaghan, Bill and Bill Findlay (1984). "Wangaratta, 1959–1984: A Silver City", City of Wangaratta.
O'Brien, Antony. Shenanigans on the Ovens Goldfields: the 1859 Election, Artillery Publishing, 2005.
Oberg, Leon. Railways of Australia, Reed, Sydney, 1975.
Thompson, John E. Focus on Victoria's Narrow Gauge Whitfield Line, Puffing Billy Preservation Society, Belgrave, 2002.
"Wangaratta: Capital of North Eastern Victoria", (1927) Committee of the Back to Wangaratta Celebrations.
Whittaker, D. M. (1963). "Wangaratta: Being the History of the Township that sprang up at Ovens Crossing and grew into a modern City", Wangaratta City Council.
Why Wangaratta, and Moments in Jazz (books on the Wangaratta Festival of Jazz and Blues).
Dept of Minerals and Energy, Wangaratta, 8125, 1:100,000 (1971)(shows the district as it was in the 1960s with railways and before major sub-division redevelopments)
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