| Whitfield Victoria |
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Whitfield
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| Population: | 281[1] |
| Postcode: | 3733 |
| Location: |
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| LGA: | Rural City of Wangaratta |
| State District: | Benalla |
| Federal Division: | Indi |
Whitfield is an agricultural township in the King Valley in north-eastern Victoria.
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The township is immediately west of the flood-prone King River and has State Forest to its west and east. Agriculture extends along several stream valleys which are tributaries of the King River.[3] At the 2006 census, Whitfield and the surrounding area had a population of 300.[1]
Pastoral runs were established in the area in the 1840s but population was small until the 1870s, the Post Office opening on 1 May 1874 as Upper King River and being renamed Whitfield in 1889.[4] The name Whitfield is believed to come from the name of a pastoral run Whitefields. In the early 1900s Whitfield was the site of a Government experimental farm growing tobacco and hops. After World War II many European immigrants settled in the area and grew tobacco.
It is close to the township of Cheshunt and the localities of Rose River and Dandongadale. Local places of interest include Paradise Falls, Mount Cobbler, Power's Lookout, Lake William Hovell and Wabonga Plateau. Cascading waterfalls, clear mountain streams, wildflowers and spectacular views of the Alps are all features of the Wabonga Plateau-Mount Cobbler area of the Alpine National Park. There is a variety of tours and places of interest for day visitors as well as those staying longer. Bushwalking, 4WD touring and camping are all popular pastimes.
Mount Cobbler and the Wabonga Plateau area of the Alpine National Park are best approached from Whitfield. From Melbourne, Whitfield can be reached via the Hume Highway to Wangaratta or via the Maroondah Highway to Mansfield and then via Tolmie. Roads from Benalla, Mansfield and Myrtleford also provide interesting scenic routes to the area.
Whitfield has a number of facilities as the principal town of the upper King Valley. It has a hotel/pub, general store, Cafe Whitty (coffee shop & food), police station, golf course and caravan park.
There is a link between Whitfield and Melbourne's tourist railway Puffing Billy. In 1897 the Victorian Railways accepted the tender from the Baldwin Locomotive Works, Philadelphia, U.S.A. for narrow-gauge locomotives of the ‘A’ Class, (two 2 foot 6 inch-gauge locomotives) and the first two to be received were placed on the Whitfield/Wangaratta line construction project. Thus the line has the distinction of being the first narrow-gauge line to be built in Victoria. [1] Some of the whistle stop name-boards such as Angleside, Claremont, Dwyer, Pieper and Jarrott can still be seen. There is now a bus service that has replaced the old train system, still taking the same route in and out of Wangaratta. The bus runs on Monday, Wednesday and Friday[5].
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