King Valley
The King Valley, or King River Valley is a wine-producing and agricultural region centred on the King River between Wangaratta and the Alpine National Park in the North East Victoria zone of the Australian state of Victoria. There are a numbe ...
in north-eastern
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 ...
.
Overview
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. At the , Whitfield and the surrounding area had a population of 215.
History
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. 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
Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
many European immigrants settled in the area and grew tobacco.
Today
The township is close to nearby
Cheshunt, Victoria
Cheshunt is a small rural village situated in the Upper King Valley in north-east Victoria, Australia. It is located about 50 km from Wangaratta and is close to the Alpine National Park
The Alpine National Park is a national park locate ...
, and the localities of Rose River and Dandongadale. Local places of interest include Paradise Falls,
Mount Cobbler
Mount Cobbler is a mountain located in the Alpine National Park to the east of Mansfield, Victoria, Mansfield in north-eastern Victoria, Australia. Its summit rises to above sea level. The peak and surrounding Cobbler land system are composed o ...
, Power's Lookout, Lake William Hovell and Wabonga Plateau. Waterfalls, mountain streams, wildflowers and views of the Alps are features of the Wabonga Plateau-Mount Cobbler area of the
Alpine National Park
The Alpine National Park is a national park located in the Central Highlands and Alpine regions of Victoria, Australia. The national park is located northeast of Melbourne. It is the largest National Park in Victoria, and covers much of the hig ...
. There are tours and places of interest for day visitors as well as those staying longer. Bushwalking, 4WD touring and camping are offered in the area.
Mount Cobbler and the Wabonga Plateau area of the
Alpine National Park
The Alpine National Park is a national park located in the Central Highlands and Alpine regions of Victoria, Australia. The national park is located northeast of Melbourne. It is the largest National Park in Victoria, and covers much of the hig ...
are often approached from Whitfield. From
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 ...
, Whitfield can be reached via the Hume Highway to
Wangaratta
Wangaratta ( ) is a city in the northeast of Victoria, Australia, from Melbourne along the Hume Highway. The city had an estimated urban population of 19,318 at June 2018. Wangaratta has recorded a population growth rate of almost 1% annually ...
or via the
Maroondah Highway
Maroondah Highway (also known as Whitehorse Road from Deepdene to Mitcham) is a major east–west thoroughfare in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, and a highway connecting the north-eastern fringes of Melbourne to the lower alpine region of V ...
Benalla
Benalla
is a small city located on the Broken River gateway to the High Country north-eastern region of Victoria, Australia, about north east of the state capital Melbourne. At the the population was 10,822.
It is the administrative cent ...
, Mansfield 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 ...
.
Whitfield has a number of facilities as the principal town of the upper King Valley. It has a hotel/pub, Cafe Whitty (coffee shop & food), police station, golf course and caravan park. It is home of the King Valley football team competing in the Ovens and King Football League.
Tragedy struck the township when the only general store in town (which had recently been taken over by new owners) was destroyed in a fire early in 2013.
Transport
There is a link between Whitfield and Melbourne's tourist railway Puffing Billy. In 1897 the
Victorian Railways
The Victorian Railways (VR), trading from 1974 as VicRail, was the state-owned operator of most rail transport in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companie ...
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 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.''The Wangaratta-Whitfield Line as I Knew It'' Cleary, R indsey, H.