Warracknabeal
Warracknabeal Victoria | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Post office and war memorial | |||||||||
  Warracknabeal | |||||||||
| Coordinates | 36°15′0″S 142°25′0″E / 36.25000°S 142.41667°E / -36.25000; 142.41667Coordinates: 36°15′0″S 142°25′0″E / 36.25000°S 142.41667°E / -36.25000; 142.41667 | ||||||||
| Population | 2,438 (2016 census)[1] | ||||||||
| Postcode(s) | 3393 | ||||||||
| Elevation | 113 m (371 ft) | ||||||||
| Location |
| ||||||||
| LGA(s) | Shire of Yarriambiack | ||||||||
| State electorate(s) | Lowan | ||||||||
| Federal Division(s) | Mallee | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Warracknabeal (/ˈwɒrɪknəbiːl/) is a wheatbelt town in the Australian state of Victoria.[2] 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 2011 census Warracknabeal district had a population of 2,745,[3] of which 2,340 lived in the urban town centre.[4]
Contents
1 History
2 Localities
3 Healthcare
4 Schools
5 Sport
6 Governance
7 Easter Y-Fest
8 Notable people
9 See also
10 References
11 External links
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". The earliest European settlers in the area included Andrew and Robert Scott, who established the first run of the name.[5]
The Post Office opened on 1 September 1861 and was known as Werracknebeal until 1885.[6]
Amongst the historical buildings are an 1872 prison cell built from red and yellow gum, a Tudor-style post office, several 19th century hotels and pubs, 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.
Localities
The Warracknabeal bounded locality includes the rural neighbourhoods of Batchica 36°11′10″S 142°23′54″E / 36.1862°S 142.3982°E / -36.1862; 142.3982 (Batchica) (whose post office opened as Yellanghip South in 1908, was renamed Batchica in 1909 and closed in 1931), Challambra 36°14′46″S 142°31′53″E / 36.2460°S 142.5315°E / -36.2460; 142.5315 (Challambra) (whose post office opened as Challamba Dam (sic) around 1902, was renamed Challamba in 1905 and closed in 1918) and Mellis 36°17′47″S 142°28′57″E / 36.2963°S 142.4824°E / -36.2963; 142.4824 (Mellis) (whose post office opened around 1907 and closed in 1954).[6]
Healthcare
The town is serviced by three doctors and one pharmacy. Hospital services are provided by Rural Northwest Health.The town also has an Osteopath.[7]
Schools
The town has four schools: Warracknabeal Secondary College, Warracknabeal Primary School, St Mary's Catholic Primary School and Warracknabeal Special Developmental School.
Sport
The town has an Australian rules football team (Warrack Eagles) competing in the Wimmera Football League.
Warrack Eagles Netball Club competes strongly in the Wimmera Netball Association.
The town has two teams that compete within the Dimboola Tennis Association competition as of 2015: the Warracknabeal Gold and Warracknabeal Maroon.
The horse racing club—the Wimmera Racing Club—schedules around six race meetings a year at Warracknabeal, including the Warracknabeal Cup meeting every Easter Saturday.[8]
It also has the Sheep Hills Race Club, which schedules two race meetings a year, including the Sheep Hills Cup meeting in February.[9]
Golfers play at the course of the Warracknabeal Golf Club.[10]
Warracknabeal also has a cricket team (St Mary's Cricket Club) who have recently won their 3rd consecutive flag in the Wimmera Mallee Cricket Association.
Warracknabeal has three hockey teams: a senior men's team (Hoops), a women's team, and a mixed junior team (Revengers), who were winners of the 2011 premiership.
Warracknabeal also has a roller Derby team called the Wheat City Derby Angels. They participate in tournaments around Victoria.
Governance
Former Town Hall
Warracknabeal is the seat of government for the Shire of Yarriambiack. It is also the administrative centre. The council offices are located in Lyle Street.
The former town hall and theatre complex (built 1939-40), added to the Victorian Heritage Register in 2009, is now used for civic purposes.
Easter Y-Fest
YFest incorporates an Easter Saturday Street Parade, a 3 Day Vintage Machinery Rally at Wheatlands Museum, 4 Day Golf Tournament, 3 day Art Show, Easter Saturday Race Meeting and Waterski Spectacular. The town of 2400 people swells with many visitors, friends and family and offers many family and rich community events every year.
The Easter Y-Fest is in its twenty-fifth year (2013) and continues to grow stronger as the individual events that make up Y-Fest, benefit from the joint marketing efforts of the Y-Fest Promotions Committee Inc. This Committee, made up of representatives from each of the individual event committees and Council, was formed as a marketing group to promote the Y-Fest concept and has been successful in boosting attendances at all venues.
Notable people
Arts and media
Jack Hibberd (1940), playwright
Nick Cave (1957), musician
Military
Linden Cameron MC (1918-1986), Australian army officer
Politics
Thomas d'Alton (1895 –1968), politician
Jack Ginifer (1927-1982), Labor politician
Bernie Dunn (1944), National politician
Sport
Ken Smale (1933), Australian rules footballer
John Hayes (1939), Australian rules footballer
Graeme Clyne (1941), Australian rules footballer
Russell Crow (1941), Australian rules footballer
Andy Wilson (1951), Australian rules footballer
Graeme Schultz (1953), Australian rules footballer
Lauren Hewitt (1978), Olympic track and field medalist
Jeremy Clayton (1981), Australian rules footballer
Natalie Medhurst (1984), Netballer
Matt Rosa (1986), Australian rules footballer
Kyle Cheney (1989), Australian rules footballer
See also
- Warracknabeal Airport
References
^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Warracknabeal (State Suburb)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 28 January 2018..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
^ Worthington, Brett (29 August 2014). "Victorian wheat belt desperate for rain". ABC Rural. Australia. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "Warracknabeal (State Suburb)". 2011 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "Warracknabeal (Urban Centre/Locality)". 2011 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
^ Reader's Digest Illustrated Guide to Australian Places, 1993.
^ ab Premier Postal History, Post Office List, retrieved 2008-04-11
^ "Acute Care RNH". RNH Webpage. RNH. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
^ Country Racing Victoria, Wimmera Racing at Warracknabeal, retrieved 2009-05-07
Archived 19 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
^ Country Racing Victoria, Sheep Hills Race Club, retrieved 2009-05-07
Archived 23 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine.
^ Golf Select, Warracknabeal, retrieved 2009-05-11
External links
Media related to Warracknabeal at Wikimedia Commons
- Warracknabeal Herald
- Warracknabeal Secondary College
- Warracknabeal's Easter Y-Fest Website
