George Town (

Palawa_kani Palawa kani is a constructed language created by the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre as a composite Tasmanian languages, Tasmanian language, based on reconstructed vocabulary from the limited accounts of the various languages once spoken by the eas ...

: ''kinimathatakinta'') is a large town in north-east

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

, on the eastern bank of the mouth of the

Tamar River The Tamar River, officially kanamaluka / River Tamar, is a estuary located in northern Tasmania, Australia. Despite being called a river, the waterway is a brackish and tidal estuary over its entire length. Location and features Formed by the ...

. The

Australian Bureau of Statistics The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is the independent statutory agency of the Australian Government responsible for statistical collection and analysis and for giving evidence-based advice to federal, state and territory governments ...

records the George Town Municipal Area had a population of 6,764 as of 30 June 2016. It is the regional centre of the

George Town Council George Town Council is a Local government in Australia, local government body in northern Tasmania, situated north of Launceston, Tasmania, Launceston. The George Town local government area is classified as rural and has a population of 6,931, ...

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

and is well served with a Regional Hospital, supermarkets, and infrastructure.

History

The area now occupied by George Town has been inhabited by

Aboriginal Tasmanians The Aboriginal Tasmanians (Palawa kani: ''Palawa'' or ''Pakana'') are the Aboriginal people of the Australian island of Tasmania, located south of the mainland. For much of the 20th century, the Tasmanian Aboriginal people were widely, and ...

since, at least, 7000 BP and possibly as long ago as 43000 BP.

European settlement

Early observation of the

occurred in 1798 when Bass and

Flinders Flinders may refer to: Places Antarctica * Flinders Peak, near the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula Australia New South Wales * Flinders County, New South Wales * Shellharbour Junction railway station, Shellharbour * Flinders, New South Wa ...

sailed into the river during their circumnavigation of Tasmania. The estuarine river was named Port Dalrymple and the location that would become George Town was referred to as Outer Cove. William Collins, in January 1804, led an 18 day exploration in of the river to determine the best site for a settlement. In November 1804, Colonel William Paterson arrived with four ships with 181 people, convicts, soldiers, and one free settler and the settlement was established at Outer Cove. Subsequently the main settlement moved to the west arm of the river and then to the river head, some 50 km south, named Launceston. When, in 1811, Governor-In-Chief

Lachlan Macquarie Major-general (United Kingdom), Major General Lachlan Macquarie, Companion of the Order of the Bath, CB (; gd, Lachann MacGuaire; 31 January 1762 – 1 July 1824) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator from Scotland. Macquarie se ...

toured Tasmania he moved the settlement back to Outer Cove and named it George Town after

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

. The populace were reluctant to relocate and building the town in earnest did not begin until 1819. Because of the needs of maintaining a defensible position at the mouth of the river,regardless of the notional main settlement location, the George Town area has been continuously occupied since 1804 making it one of the earliest European settlements in Australia.

Early communications

1822 - George Town Post Office opened, Mr. W Brown is appointed Postmaster on 11 October 1822 1825 - Tamar Valley semaphore system 1869 - Eastern Extension Telegraph Cable connects Tasmania to the Australian mainland

Geography and landmarks

*Mount George *Tamar Valley Semaphore *

Low Head Low Head is a rural residential locality in the local government area (LGA) of George Town Council, George Town in the Launceston LGA Region, Launceston LGA region of Tasmania. The locality is about north of the town of George Town, Tasmania, G ...

and

Low Head Lighthouse Low Head Lighthouse is in Low Head, Tasmania, about north of George Town on the east side of the mouth of the Tamar River. It was the third lighthouse to be constructed in Australia, and it is also Australia's oldest continuously used pilot s ...

Batman Bridge The Batman Bridge is a modern road bridge that carries the Batman Highway across the Tamar River, between Whirlpool Reach, Hillwood at its eastern end and Sidmouth / Deviot midpoint at its western end, in north Tasmania, Australia. The bridge c ...

- Joining the George Town Municipality to the

West Tamar West Tamar Council is a local government body in Tasmania, situated along the western side of the Tamar River in the north of the state. West Tamar is classified as an urban local government area and has a population of 23,769, it extends from ...

*kanamaluka/

Infrastructure

The

Basslink The Basslink () electricity interconnector is a high-voltage direct current (HVDC) cable linking the electricity grids of the states of Victoria and Tasmania in Australia, crossing Bass Strait, connecting the Loy Yang Power Station, Victoria on ...

400 Kilovolt

high-voltage direct current A high-voltage direct current (HVDC) electric power transmission system (also called a power superhighway or an electrical superhighway) uses direct current (DC) for electric power transmission, in contrast with the more common alternating curre ...

submarine cable connecting Tasmania to the

National Electricity Market The National Electricity Market (NEM) is an arrangement in Australia's electricity sector for the connection of the electricity transmission grids of the eastern and southern Australia states and territories to create a cross-state wholesale elec ...

, terminates in George Town. In 2007

Alinta Alinta was an Australian energy infrastructure company. It has grown from a small, Western Australia-based gas distributor and retailer to the largest energy infrastructure company in Australia. It was bought in 2007 by a consortium including S ...

built the

Tamar Valley Power Station Tamar Valley Power Station is a $230 million natural gas-fired power station located in Bell Bay in the Tamar Valley, Tasmania. It is owned by Hydro Tasmania, and is immediately adjacent to the decommissioned Bell Bay Power Station, which is al ...

a 200 MW gas-fired power station in the vicinity of George Town creating 200 direct and 100 indirect jobs during construction, and generating electricity from 2009. Nearby Bell Bay has an aluminium and manganese smelter, as well as the port. George Town has 3 schools: * South George Town Primary School * Star of the Sea College *

Port Dalrymple School Port Dalrymple School is a school in George Town, Tasmania, Australia. The school has students from Kindergarten to Grade 12 and Vocational Education Training (VET). History Port Dalrymple School was opened in 1999 after the merge of George To ...

Proposed developments

Bell Bay pulp mill

Gunns Limited Gunns Limited was a major forestry enterprise located in Tasmania, Australia. It had operations in forest management, woodchipping, sawmilling and veneer production. The company was placed into liquidation in March 2013. History Founded in 187 ...

had proposed a pulp mill to be built in the area in 2006, however Gunns entered receivership in 2013, with large debt and the mill did not proceed as the company assets were sold.

Mountain bike trail

George Town Council is developing 80km of purpose built mountain bike trails over two separate networks - one on the flanks of Mount George near the town centre and the second in the Tippogoree Hills, five-kilometres south of the township. The project is anticipated to be completed by December 2021.

Attractions

"The Grove" Georgian home built in 1829 attracts many visitors, as does the 1805 convict built

pilot station Pilot Station ( esu, Tuutalgaq) is a city in Kusilvak Census Area, Alaska, United States. The population was 568 at the 2010 census, up from 550 in 2000. Geography Pilot Station is located at (61.936050, -162.883403), on the northern bank of t ...

at Low Head. George Town is also a popular seaside destination for swimming, surfing, and fishing and boating enthusiasts. George Town is home to a Little Penguin colony at the nearby beach at

. The George Town Football Club, George Town Bowls Club, George Town Junior Soccer Club and the George Town Cricket Club are notable among its clubs and associations. The Bass and Flinders Centre has a collection of historical boats including a replica of the 1798 sloop

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

. The Watch House in Macquarie street built in 1843 was the town gaol. The building was refurbished and reopened in 2004 as a gallery and local history museum. It features a scale model of the town as it was in the early nineteenth century. George Town is home to a vibrant arts community. The Lighthouse Regional Arts group hold a yearly art show, have local and interstate travelling displays at the Watch House and have permanent displays of art at the Bass and Flinders centre, the

pilot station and the Jim Mooney Gallery. The George Town RSL Military Museum/display in Macquarie Street is one of Tasmania's more diverse Military Museums and has a large static display from conflicts ranging from the 1880s to present day. The collection covers both Australian and overseas militaria and history as well as possibly the only collection of Third Reich artifacts on display in the state.

Media

George Town has a local radio station – Tamar FM 95.3 which is a community radio station generally playing music and advertising local businesses.

Events

Some main events that happen annually in George Town include: *The Tamar Valley Folk Festival, which takes place on the third full weekend in January (one week after the

Cygnet Folk Festival The Cygnet Folk Festival, run since 1982, is a three-day folk music festival held in Cygnet, Tasmania, Cygnet in Tasmania, Australia, that occurs annually on the second weekend in January. History The festival has developed as one of the prem ...

) and features performances from local, interstate and sometimes even international musicians, as well as workshops, sessions and other festive events. *

Steampunk Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and aesthetics inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery. Steampunk works are often set in an alternative history of the Victorian era or ...

Tasmania Festival *George Town New Years Eve Extravaganza hosted by The George Town Neighbourhood House and The Crazy Duck *Don Mario's Classic Cars and Coffee - classic car enthusiast meet-up and display, 1st Sunday of each month

Notable people

Notable people from or who have lived in George Town include: *

John Youl John Youl (1932 – 27 September 2009) was an Australian motor racing driver, race track owner and prominent Tasmanian grazier. Youl was best known for his driving in open wheel racing cars during the 1950s and 1960s and by the 60's was one of ...

, an early clergyman *

Brendon Bolton Brendon Bolton (born 18 April 1979) is an Australian rules football coach who is currently serving as the director of coaching with the Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League. Bolton previously was the head coach of the ...

, Coach of

Carlton Football Club The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's top professional competition. Founded in 1864 in Carlton, an inner suburb of Mel ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

* Danny Clark, cyclist

References

External links

George Town Council
{{authority control Tamar River Bass Strait 1804 establishments in Australia Localities of George Town Council