Porepunkah is a town in northeast

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

on the

Great Alpine Road } The Great Alpine Road (B500) is a country tourist road in Victoria, Australia, running from Wangaratta in the north to Bairnsdale in the east, and passing through the Victorian Alps. The road was given its current name because it was consid ...

, at the foot of

Mount Buffalo Mount Buffalo is a mountain plateau of the Australian Alps and is within the Mount Buffalo National Park in Victoria, Australia. It is located approximately northeast of Melbourne. It is noted for its dramatic scenery. The summit of the highes ...

northeast of the state capital,

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

and northwest of

Bright Bright may refer to: Common meanings *Bright, an adjective meaning giving off or reflecting illumination; see Brightness *Bright, an adjective meaning someone with intelligence People * Bright (surname) * Bright (given name) *Bright, the stage na ...

. It is part of

Alpine Shire The Alpine Shire is a local government area in the Hume region of Victoria, Australia, located in the north-east part of the state. It covers an area of and in 2022 had a population of 13,235. It includes the towns of Bright, Dinner Plain, Mou ...

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 on the banks of the

Ovens River The Ovens River, a perennial river of the north-east Murray catchment, part of the Murray-Darling basin, is located in the alpine and Hume regions of the Australian state of Victoria. Location and features Formed by the confluence of the East ...

, near the

Buckland River The Buckland River (''Kaŋiq'' in Inupiaq) is a stream, long, in the U.S. state of Alaska. It flows northwest to the Chukchi Sea at Eschscholtz Bay, southwest of Selawik in the Northwest Arctic Borough. Naval officer Frederick William Beec ...

junction. At the , Porepunkah had a population of 941.

History

European settlement began in the 1830s, but it wasn't until the discovery of gold in the 1850s that development of the town took place. Porepunkah is the nearest modern township to the site of the

Buckland Riot The Buckland riot was an anti-Chinese race riot that occurred on 4 July 1857, in the goldfields of the Buckland Valley, Victoria, Australia, near present-day Porepunkah. At the time approximately 2000 Chinese and 700 European migrants were livi ...

, an anti-Chinese race riot that occurred on 4 July 1857. The notorious bushranger

Harry Power Henry Johnson (18 May 1819 – November 1891), better known by his alias Harry Power, was an Irish-born convict who became a bushranger in Australia. From 1869 to 1870, he was accompanied by a young Ned Kelly, who went on to become Australia's b ...

defied police in the Ovens district for a decade. Power held up the mail coach at Porepunkah on 7 May 1869 after escaping from

Pentridge Prison HM Prison Pentridge was an Australian prison that was first established in 1851 in Coburg, Victoria. The first prisoners arrived in 1851. The prison officially closed on 1 May 1997. Pentridge was often referred to as the "Bluestone College", " ...

. Porepunkah Post Office opened on 22 February 1870. Although the Post Office doesn't exist exclusively today, the Porepunkah Roadhouse provides Australia Post services to the community as there is no mail service to homes. Porepunkah Primary School (No. 1144) was officially opened on 23 January 1873, with Henry Jeffreys as the headmaster and an enrolment of 43 children. The school remains open today. The Porepunkah Recreation Reserve was gazetted on 11 April 1895. Porepunkah was proclaimed a township on 22 June 1910 by

Lord Carmichael Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

, the Governor of Victoria.

Porepunkah railway station Porepunkah railway station was located on the Bright line serving the town of Porepunkah in Victoria. It opened on 17 October 1890 and closed on 30 November 1983. Porepunkah station was the location where the Manfield family transported tour ...

was the stopping point for passengers to disembark for Mount Buffalo. In June 1925 a "sedan passenger car" was introduced to transport up to 27 people from the station to the Mount Buffalo Chalet.

Industry

Tobacco used to be grown near Porepunkah, but the industry was shut down in 2006. There are

hop A hop is a type of jump. Hop or hops may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Hop'' (film), a 2011 film * Hop! Channel, an Israeli TV channel * ''House of Payne'', or ''HOP'', an American sitcom * Lindy Hop, a swing dance of the 1920s and ...

gardens near Porepunkah towards Eurobin. There are several vineyards and wineries in the Porepunkah district, which is part of the cool-climate Alpine Valleys wine region. There is one dairy farm in the Buckland Valley operated by the Lumsden family. Bruce Lumsden is an international ploughing competitor. Nearby softwood plantations provide seasonal employment for thinning, pruning, planting and harvesting. In the 2016 Census, the most common industries of employment for persons aged 15 years and over usually resident in Porepunkah were accommodation (13.3%); hospitals (7.0%); supermarket and grocery stores (4.8%); cafes and restaurants (4.6%); and local government administration (4.1%). As there are no health services or local government offices located in Porepunkah; the statistics reflect that Porepunkah is partly a

dormitory town A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

for

and

Myrtleford Myrtleford is a town in northeast Victoria, Australia, 280 km (170 miles) northeast of Melbourne and 46 km (29 miles) southeast of Wangaratta. Myrtleford is part of the Alpine Shire local government area and in 2016 the town had a po ...

Sport

Football, cricket and cycling were popular sports at Porepunkah in the early 20th century. Porepunkah teams competed against rivals from Bright and district. Porepunkah competed in the Myrtleford Bright Football League as late as 1951. On 10 April 1913, ''The Argus'' newspaper in Melbourne reported a "country record" of six wickets for one run by Porepunkah bowler John Graham in a match against Wandiligong. Porepunkah won the 1915 Bright District Football League premiership when the competition was cancelled to aid recruiting for the war as Porepunkah "had a substantial lead from the other clubs". Today, the Porepunkah Panthers baseball team plays at the Porepunkah Oval in the North Eastern Baseball Association. There are tennis courts at the Porepunkah Hall.

Notable people

* Carlton footballe
Newton Chandler
* Country Party politician Robert Cook

Tourism

Porepunkah is a leading gateway to the Victorian skifields. The

opened in 1890 as part of the

Bright railway line The Bright railway line was a railway line in Victoria, Australia constructed by the Victorian Railways as a branch from the previously constructed Yackandandah line to Beechworth, with the Bright line branching at Everton. The line followed t ...

, and closed in 1983. The

Murray to the Mountains Rail Trail The Murray to Mountains Rail Trail is a cycling and walking rail trail in northern Victoria, Australia. It extends from Wangaratta to Bright, with a side branch to Beechworth, following the route of the former Bright railway line. This side branc ...

, a popular cycling and hiking path built on this disused railway corridor, passes through Porepunkah. Close proximity to attractions such as

, Buckland Valley, Porepunkah Airfield and wineries makes Porepunkah a popular holiday destination. The Ovens and Buckland Rivers are popular with swimmers and fishers. The Buckland River contains mostly brown trout in the headwaters, some small rainbow trout, river blackfish and small redfin in the lower reaches. Spiny freshwater crayfish are also abundant.Fishing Victoria Project

References

External links

Community websiteMurray to the Mountains Rail trail
{{authority control Towns in Victoria (Australia) Towns in Central Hume Alpine Shire