Warracknabeal, Victoria

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Warracknabeal
Victoria

Coronation Bridge, Warracknabeal

Population:

2625 (2006)^[1]

Postcode:

3393

Elevation:

113 m (371 ft)

Location:

359 km (223 mi) NW of Melbourne
58 km (36 mi) N of Horsham
60 km (37 mi) W of Donald

LGA:

Shire of Yarriambiack

State District:

Lowan

Federal Division:

Mallee

Mean Max Temp	Mean Min Temp	Rainfall
22.2 °C ^{72 °F}	8.6 °C ^{47 °F}	397.4 mm ^{15.6 in}

Warracknabeal is a wheatbelt town in the Australian state of Victoria. Situated on the banks of the Yarriambiack Creek, 330 km north-west of Melbourne, it is the business and services centre of the northern Wimmera and southern Mallee districts, and hosts local government offices of the Shire of Yarriambiack. At the 2006 census Waracknabeal had a population of 2625.

1 History
2 See also
3 References
4 External links

[edit] History

The original inhabitants of the area around Warracknabeal were the Wotjobaluk tribe of aboriginal people. The town's name is believed to derive from an aboriginal expression meaning "place of big gums shading the water hole", although an alternative explanation combines the Scottish family name "Warrack" and the Gaelic "nabeal" ('ravine'). The earliest settlers in the area included Andrew and Robert Scott, who established the first run of the name.^[2]

Amongst the historical buildings are an 1872 prison cell built from red and yellow gum, a Tudor-style post office, and a four storey water tower from 1886. There is also an agricultural machinery museum housing pieces from the history of farming in the Mallee and Wimmera districts.

The town is the birth place of the playwright Jack Hibberd, the musician Nick Cave, the track and field athlete Lauren Hewitt, and the AFL footballers Matthew Rosa and Kyle Cheney.