Heathcote, Victoria
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| Heathcote Victoria |
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 Main street |
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| Population: | 2686 (2006)[1] |
| Postcode: | 3523 |
| Location: | |
| LGA: | City of Greater Bendigo |
| State District: | Rodney |
| Federal Division: | Bendigo |
Heathcote is a town in central Victoria, Australia, situated on the Northern Highway 110 kilometres north of Melbourne and 40 kilometres south-east of Bendigo via the McIvor Highway. It is located at . Its local government area is the City of Greater Bendigo, Heathcote is part of the federal electorate of Bendigo and is in the state electorate of Rodney. At the 2006 census, Heathcote had a population of 2686.
Heathcote is the closest major town to the Heathcote-Greytown National Park and Lake Eppalock. The town hosts a rodeo at Easter and an agricultural show in November.
It is reputed as having the longest main street in Victoria.[2] The town is the centre of the recognised Heathcote wine region, notable for its Shiraz wines.[3]
[edit] History
The first known European known to have visited the area now known as the Heathcote district was Major Thomas Mitchell in 1836, and fifteen years later about 400 Europeans lived on some 16 pastoral properties in the vicinity.
Late in 1852 gold was discovered at McIvor Creek, and within six months some 40,000 miners were encamped in the vicinity. It proved to be one of the richest finds during the Australian gold rushes, but the gold was so easily found that it was soon largely exhausted and by the end of the year a large proportion of the miners had already left for other recent finds (although deeper deposits continued to be mined for many years). This was not before the Victorian Government declared the towship of Heathcote on the site and ordered the construction of several official buildings. With the decline of gold mining the region took on an increased importance as a pastoral district.
The most famous incident during the gold rush era was the Melbourne Private Escort Robbery on 20 July 1853. This took place very close to where one of Australia's worst aviation disasters occurred in 1945.
[edit] References
- ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). Heathcote (State Suburb). 2006 Census QuickStats. Retrieved on 2007-10-01.
- ^ Emeu Inn Restaurant, B&B and Wine Centre. Visit Victoria. Tourism Victoria. Retrieved on 2007-03-28.
- ^ Heathcote, Victoria. Wine Regions. Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation. Retrieved on 2007-03-28.
- J. O. Randell, McIvor, A History of the Shire and the Township of Heathcote, published by the author, East Melbourne, 1985.
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