Pillinger, Tasmania

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Pillinger, Tasmania is an abandoned port and townsite in Kelly Basin, on the south eastern side of Macquarie Harbour on the West Coast of Tasmania.

It was constructed for James Crotty's North Mount Lyell mining company to ship ore from the North Mount Lyell mine, utilising the North Mount Lyell Railway that took the ore to the smelters at Crotty and on to Pillinger. East Pillinger was a company town, and West Pillinger was the neighbouring government town. East Pillinger had 3 wharves, a sawmill, brickworks and ore crusher. West Pillinger had stores, hotels and a police station.^[1]

Pillinger was the name of an old Tasmanian family, some of whom were politicians.

When the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company took over the North Mount Lyell operations, most of the town and port facilities were either removed and utilised elsewhere, or left to rot.

The Tasmanian government have graded the town and its vicinity as a historical area.

[edit] References

^ Tasmanian Heritage Office: DTPHA (compiled) (July 2002). East Pillinger, historic township. Parks and Wildlife Service Tasmania. Retrieved on 2006-10-06.

Blainey, Geoffrey (2000). The Peaks of Lyell, 6th ed., Hobart: St. David's Park Publishing. ISBN 0-7246-2265-9.
Rae, Lou. The Abt Railway and Railways of the Lyell region. Sandy Bay: Lou Rae. ISBN 0-9592098-7-5.
Whitham, Charles. Western Tasmania: A Land of Riches and Beauty.