Echuca, Victoria

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Echuca
Victoria

Location of Echuca in Victoria (red)

Population:

12,358 (2006)^[1]

Postcode:

3564

Elevation:

96 m (315 ft)

Location:

214 km (133 mi) N of Melbourne
91 km (57 mi) NE of Bendigo
76 km (47 mi) NW of Shepparton
3 km (2 mi) S of Moama (NSW)

LGA:

Shire of Campaspe

State District:

Rodney

Federal Division:

Murray

Mean Max Temp	Mean Min Temp	Rainfall
22.2 °C ^{72 °F}	9.4 °C ^{49 °F}	427.1 mm ^{16.8 in}

Echuca is a town located on the banks of the Murray River in Victoria, Australia. Twin town Moama is on the northern side of the river in New South Wales. Its location at the closest point of the Murray to Melbourne contributed to its development as a thriving river port city during the 1800s. At the 2006 census, Echuca had a population of 12,358.

Echuca, an Aboriginal name meaning "Meeting of the Waters" is indicative of the role rivers have played in the town's existence.^[2]Echuca is situated close to the junction of the Goulburn, Campaspe and Murray Rivers.

1 Origin and growth
2 Decline
3 Today
4 Trivia
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Origin and growth

Echuca was founded by one of the most enterprising characters of the early colonial days, an ex-convict named Henry Hopwood. In 1850 he bought a small punt which operated across the Murray River near the Campaspe junction. The relatively small settlement known as "Hopwood's Ferry" became Echuca as the town grew.

While the settlers at Echuca treated the local Aborigines with relative kindness, their way of life was irrevocably changed by their relationship with the Europeans. Having already been decimated by smallpox in the late 1820s, in the 1850s many Aborigines developed a taste for European luxuries such as bread, tobacco, and most tragically, alcohol. They were relegated to the role of fringe-dwellers, living on the banks of the Murray, and occasionally entering into the European economy as fishermen and farm labourers, and by selling the possum rugs which they crafted. Within a few short decades, their lifestyles had become unrecognisable from that of their ancestors.

By the 1870s Echuca had risen to prominence as Australia's largest inland port. Being the point of shortest distance between the Murray River and the major city of Melbourne, Echuca was both a key river port and railway junction. Steam-driven paddleboats would arrive at Echuca's 400-metre long redgum wharf, unloading it to be transported by rail to Melbourne. Wool, wheat, other grains, livestock and timber were the most common cargoes. The wharf has been listed as a Heritage Place on the Australian National Heritage List.

This industrial boom led to a rapidly expanding population, at one stage in excess of 15,000, with more than a hundred pubs (hotels) rumoured to exist in the Echuca district at one time. An iron bridge was constructed over the Murray River in the 1870s.

[edit] Decline

The expansion of the railways from Melbourne to most parts of Victoria, as well as improving roads and fickle river conditions, all combined to lessen Echuca's importance, and by the 1890s her paddlesteamer fleet was in decline. An economic depression and the collapse of several banks virtually ended Echuca's role as a major economic centre, and her population began to disperse.

[edit] Today

Paddle Steamer PS Pevensey

The main industry in Echuca now is tourism, as visitors are attracted to the town by its warm climate, the river, its historical features such as the Port of Echuca, and sporting attractions, such as golf courses and lawn bowls greens. Annual activities include the Southern 80 waterski race (February) the Jazz, Food and Wine Festival (February) the Rotary Steam Horse and Vintage Rally (June) and the Red Cross Murray Marathon (December). The Port is home to the largest Paddle Steamer fleet in the world, which includes the world's oldest surviving wooden hulled paddle boat, the 1866 built PS Adelaide. In 1984 a television mini-series, All the Rivers Run, based on a novel by Nancy Cato and starring Sigrid Thornton and John Waters, was filmed in and around Echuca. The local Paddle Steamer PS Pevensey, featured in the mini-series as the PS Philadelphia, still operates from the port. The airing of this series around Australia and internationally revitalized Echuca's tourism economy.

Dairy, wheat, sheep, pigs and cattle farming are also important to the region. Echuca's local government is managed by the Shire of Campaspe.

[edit] Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

In 1970, Echuca resident Leith Ratten was convicted of murdering his wife. His case became one of the most controversial in Victorian legal history.
Model Travis Fimmel is from the town.
Echuca's sister city is Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada