Powelltown, Victoria

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Powelltown
Victoria

Timber cutting, Powelltown, 1946

Population:

197^[1]

Postcode:

3797

Elevation:

189 m (620 ft)

Location:

87 km (54 mi) from Melbourne
25 km (16 mi) from Warburton

LGA:

Shire of Yarra Ranges

State District:

Gembrook

Federal Division:

McEwen

Mean Max Temp	Mean Min Temp	Rainfall
18.3 °C ^{65 °F}	6.9 °C ^{44 °F}	1,458.6 mm ^{57.4 in}

Powelltown is a small settlement in the Yarra State Forest east of Melbourne, the capital city of Victoria, Australia. At the 2001 census, Powelltown had a population of 197.^[1]

It began life as a timber town in the 1890s, being named after the Powell Wood Processing Company which harvested mountain ash in the Upper Yarra Valley. The logs were transported from the forests to the sawmills by tramway and from there to the railheads at Yarra Junction and Warburton. The Powelltown Tramway provided a passenger and goods service to Yarra Junction between 1913 and 1945.

Today, many of the trails constructed to transport timber have been opened up as walking trails and driving routes for tourists.

[edit] References

^ ^a ^b Australian Bureau of Statistics (9 March 2006). Powelltown (L) (Urban Centre/Locality). 2001 Census QuickStats. Retrieved on 2007-08-05.

Stamford, F.E.; Stuckey, E.G., and Maynard, G.L. (1984). Powelltown, a history of its timber mills and tramways. Melbourne: Light Railway Research Society of Australia. ISBN 0-909340-21-8. (151 pages)