Ararat, Victoria
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Ararat () is a town in the Central Highlands region in Victoria,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, about west of Melbourne, on the Western Highway on the eastern slopes of the Ararat Hills and Cemetery Creek valley between Victoria's Western District and the
Wimmera The Victorian government's Wimmera Southern Mallee subregion is part of the Grampians region in western Victoria. It includes most of what is considered the Wimmera, and part of the southern Mallee region. The subregion is based on the social ...
. The source of the Hopkins River is a few kilometres to the east below Telegraph Hill. Its urban population according to 2021 census is 8,500 and services the region of 11,880 residents across the Rural City's boundaries. It is also the home of the 2018/19 GMGA Golf Championship Final. It is the largest settlement in the Rural City of Ararat local government area and is the administrative centre. The discovery of gold in 1857 during the
Victorian gold rush The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia, approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. It led to a period of extreme prosperity for the Australian colony and an influx of population growth and financial capi ...
transformed it into a
boomtown A boomtown is a community that undergoes sudden and rapid population and economic growth, or that is started from scratch. The growth is normally attributed to the nearby discovery of a precious resource such as gold, silver, or oil, although t ...
which continued to prosper until the turn of the 20th century, after which it has steadily declined in population. It was proclaimed as a city on 24 May 1950. After a decline in population over the 1980s and 90s, there has been a small but steady increase in the population, and it is the site of many existing and future, large infrastructure projects, including the Hopkins Correctional Facility development project. It is named after Mount Ararat 10 kilometres south-west of the town which was named by politician/pastoralist Horatio Wills in 1841. Ararat is the only city in Australia founded by Chinese people.


History

Prior to the
European settlement of Australia European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other We ...
, Ararat was inhabited by the Djab wurrung group of
Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia 50,000 to 65,000 year ...
people. The area encompassing Ararat has many Djabwurrung language placenames; 'Karangajaruk' refers to 'the valley in which Cathcart and the Ararat (gold) diggings lie', 'Warrayatkin' refers to Green Hill Lake, 'Butingitch' refers to the Ararat town site, 'Gorambeep barak' refers to Mount Ararat, and 'Pandort' refers to a large waterhole to the south. Europeans first settled in the Grampians region in the 1840s after surveyor Thomas Mitchell passed through the area in 1836. In 1841, Horatio Wills, on his way to selecting country further south, wrote in his diary, "like the Ark we rested" and named a nearby hill Mt Ararat. It is from this entry and the nearby Mount that the town takes its name. When gold was first discovered most activity was west of the current town. The first Post Office opened in Cathcart on 1 February 1856 before being transferred to the current town on 31 August 1857. One month later the Gold Warden relocated to the current town. The current town was known for a time as Canton Lead. A tender was issued by the Public Works Office in 1858 for a cookhouse for the Police at Canton Lead. Until 1859 the local courts were the Canton Lead Court of Petty Sessions.


Gold in & around Ararat

Alluvial gold was first discovered in the Ararat area in May 1854 at Pinky Point on the Denicull Creek.Report on Cultural Heritage Department of Natural Resources & Environmenthttps://www.heritage.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0022/512257/Historic-gold-mining-sites-in-the-south-west-region-of-Victoria-Bannear-1999.pdf (
memorial
can be found on the corner of the Ararat - Halls Gap Road (C222) and Better Route Road 5km west of Ararat. Pinky Point is to the north.) By June that year 30 claims were being worked by 200 men across what was first called the Mt William field. Other leads were quickly discovered in nearby creeks including Spring Gully . This discovery led to the establishment of the town of Cathcart (near where Spring Lead Road meets the C222). Gold was also discovered in Armstrong towards Great Western. The alluvial rush peaked in 1857 when gold was discovered at Cambell’s Diggings ( Moyston) and in the Canton lead by a party of Chinese miners en route to the Central Victorian gold fields
The Canton lead
swung around the west side of the current town centre from th
Gum San Chinese Heritage Centre
along the current alignment of Banfield Street between View Point and Laby Streets. The Gum San Chinese Heritage Centre commemorates the history of the substantial Chinese community in Ararat. By 1864, most of the 1,500 miners were reworking the known leads wit
puddling machines
sluices an
Long Toms
Returns were diminishing and the 1865-1866 drought brought this phase of full-time gold mining to an end.Between 1866 and the early 1870s there were investments i
deep lead mining
None were profitable and all closed. Investment in quartz mining and crushing was more successful. Inspired by the success of the Campbell’s Reef operation other companies including in 1867 the Noah’s Ark Company in Ararat that operated a 24
horsepower Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are t ...
steam engine and
stamping heads
By 1870 the only profitable quartz mine was on the Ryhmney Reef. In 1870 investment flowed int
hydraulic sluicing
By building reservoirs and carefully contouring the aqueducts or channels these companies could wash out the gold bearing soil on the higher ground which the alluvial miners had not been able to reach. The Norval Dam on the Ryhmney Road and the half kilometre of sluice constructed in 1875 enabled sluicing of Curtis Hill and Oppossum Gully. Attention in the 1880s turned back to deep lead mining including on th
Black Lead.
This lead ran from Albert Street and McGibbony Street east to the rail line and the Hopkins River. In 1881 the Grand Junction Company began to pump groundwater from a depth of 50m. By 1883, they were pumpin
13Ml
a day which enabled them to begin to extract gold from the Black Lead. Unable to make a profit, the mine closed in 1885. Similar difficulties were faced by all deep lead speculators including well after the turn of the century. The only company to have longer term success was the Cathcart Proprietary Company (Denicull Creek) which switched to electric power, and in 1905 employed 100 men. The Company achieved ‘sensational yields’ in 1909. This success stimulated the formation of at least ten other deep lead companies. Three, including the Cathcart Company, proved profitable. But by 1925 all had closed. A final effort at deep lead mining in 1932 failed before achieving production, ending what might be called the professional gold era in Ararat. The area still attracts enthusiasts who report finding valuable nuggets. 'Ararat’s main goldfields have produced a great deal of gold to detector operators and will continue to do so for many years.' The rapid growth generated by gold brought about a municipality, which was incorporated as a borough on 24 September 1858. In the aftermath of the goldrush, Ararat soon became known for its asylum. The Aradale Mental Hospital opened in 1865 with the former the Ararat County Gaol converted in 1887 to J Ward, a psychiatric facility for the criminally insane. The Hospital remained open as a treatment facility until 1997 and has since become the site for paranormal and haunted house tours. Vines were planted in 1863 by Swiss settlers, the Pola family.


Traditional ownership claims

The formally recognised
traditional owners Native title is the set of rights, recognised by Australian law, held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups or individuals to land that derive from their maintenance of their traditional laws and customs. These Aboriginal title rig ...
for the area in which Ararat sits, north-west of Campbell Street and the Pyrenees Highway and north-east of the Western Highway and Lambert Street are the Wotjobaluk, Jardwadjali (also known as Jaadwa),
Wergaia The Wergaia or Werrigia people are an Aboriginal Australian group in the Mallee (Victoria), Mallee and Wimmera regions of north-Western Victoria (Australia), Victoria, made up of a number of clans. The people were also known as the Maligundidj ( ...
and Jupagalk nations. These nations are represented by the Barengi Gadjin Land Council Aboriginal Corporation. The formally recognised traditional owners for the area in which Ararat sits, south-east of Campbell Street and the Pyrenees Highway are the Djab Wurrung people. The Djab Wurrung people are represented by Martang Pty Ltd. In the area of Ararat that is south-west of the Western Highway and Lambert Street, traditional owners have not yet been formally recognised. However, the Eastern Maar people are negotiating a recognition and settlement agreement with the Victorian Government. The boundary of the agreement is under negotiation. The Eastern Maar people are represented by the Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation (EMAC).


Economy

Ararat's economy is driven by primary industries of the region including wool, beef and the Grampians Wine Region. The region has a number of wind farms including the Challicum Hills Wind Farm produce large amounts of renewable energy 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 ele ...
. It is also home to AF Gason Pty Ltd one of Australia's largest manufacturers of farm machinery and wood heating. The city also has a significant service economy with health, community services and is a regional commerce centre. Hopkins Correctional Centre, formerly known as H.M. Prison Ararat, is located on the town's eastern outskirts. Servicing visitors to the Grampians National Park and the local wine industry, tourism is a relatively small but significant industry in Ararat, employing 150 people and generating around $8 million to the economy, however its impact on the surrounding region is significant with tourists spending $270 million annually. Key tourist attractions include the Ararat Regional Art Gallery, Mount Langi Ghiran winery, tours through Aradale (Australia's largest abandoned 1800s lunatic asylum) and the Gum San Chinese Heritage Centre.


Geography

Ararat is nestled between several mountain ranges, including the Grampians National Park, Mount Langi Ghiran, Mount Cole, Mount Buangor, Ararat Hills Regional Park and the Pyrenees Ranges. Cemetery Creek, the valley's main catchment runs through the north of the town while Green Hill lake is on the city's eastern fringe.


Climate

Ararat has a temperate Mediterranean climate (
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
''Csb''), with warm summers that are frequently interrupted by cold fronts; and cool, usually rainy, winters.


Demographics

As of the 2021 census, Ararat City has a population of 7,015 with 1831 families total. The Ararat Local Government Area has a population of 11,880 with 2,973 families total. 88% of people in Ararat were born in Australia. 62% of people in Ararat identify as
Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
. Anglican and Catholic faiths are evenly represented with 18% of people identifying with each.


Governance

The city is the location of the municipal offices and seat of government for the Rural City of Ararat
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 federated state, state, province, division (politica ...
. Ararat is represented by the federal
Division of Wannon Division may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication * Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting of 10,000 t ...
. For
law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of the government or other social institutions who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by investigating, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms gove ...
, Ararat has a single
police station A police station is a facility operated by police or a similar law enforcement agency that serves to accommodate police officers and other law enforcement personnel. The role served by a police station varies by agency, type, and jurisdiction, ...
as well as a magistrates court and a children's court all located on Barkly Street.


Education

Ararat has four primary schools - Ararat Primary (colloquially known as "Ararat 800" by locals); Ararat West Primary; Ararat North Primary and St Mary's Catholic Primary School. In addition there are several kindergartens in the city. There are two main secondary colleges, Ararat College and Marian College, the latter of which is a Catholic secondary school. Ararat has regional campuses of the Federation University Australia (formerly the University of Ballarat) and Melbourne Polytechnic (formerly the Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE).


Culture


Art

Ararat's
National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...
listed former town hall with its elaborate clock tower, designed by Molloy and Smith and built in 1899, is now home to the Ararat Regional Art Gallery, and the Ararat Performing Arts Centre for the city.


Sport

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...
is a popular sport in Ararat. The Ararat Football Club (formed in 1871) was a founding club of the Wimmera Football League and continues to compete with its most recent premiership in 2023. A second club, the Ararat Eagles Football Club was formed more recently in 2000 to play in the Lexton Plains Football League, but now play in the Mininera & District Football League. Like many country football clubs, Ararat's clubs offer
netball Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own. It is one of a ...
as a popular sport for women in Ararat, with the Ararat Rats representing the city in the Wimmera Netball Association. The horse racing club, the Wimmera Racing Club, schedules around five race meetings a year at Ararat including the Ararat Cup meeting in November. Ararat Harness Racing Club conducts regular meetings at its racetrack in the town. Golfers play at the Aradale Golf Club on Grano Street or at the course of the Chalambar Golf Club on Golf Links Road. Motocross has become a popular sport in the area, and the Ararat Motorcycle Club regularly holds events up to state level. Ararat is also home to the Grampians Soaring Club, a recreational gliding club that supports "Yes Girls Glide" and has a successful juniors program.
Association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
is played at junior level, with the Ararat and Grampians YMCA school competition from years 8–12.


Festivals

The city's main community festival is known as the Golden Gateway Festival and has run since 1958 when it was set up to commemorate the city's centenary. The Jailhouse Rock Festival (since 1994 a retro 1950s themed festival) is the other major festival event in Ararat.


In popular culture

Two
Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the navy, naval branch of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (Australia), Chief of Navy (CN) Vice admiral (Australia), Vice Admiral Mark Hammond (admiral), Ma ...
ships have been named after this town. , a ''Bathurst''-class corvette, and , an ''Armidale''-class patrol boat. In 2014 Ararat residents appeared in the Channel 10 hit show ''
The Biggest Loser ''The Biggest Loser'' is a reality television format which started with the American TV show ''The Biggest Loser (American TV series), The Biggest Loser'' in 2004. The show centers on overweight and Obesity, obese contestants attempting to lose ...
''. Ararat was the setting for the 2008 film ''Lake Mungo''.


Attractions

Popular tourist destinations include the Gum San Chinese Heritage Centre, Aradale Lunatic Asylum Tours, Langi Morgala Museum, The Astor Cinema, and J Ward. Guests can attend a day time history tour of J Ward or be incarcerated for an evening on the J Ward Ghost Tour.


Gold era buildings

Several buildings survive from the first decade of the Ararat gold rush including the bluestone Sub-Treasury &
Assay An assay is an investigative (analytic) procedure in laboratory medicine, mining, pharmacology, environmental biology and molecular biology for qualitatively assessing or quantitatively measuring the presence, amount, or functional activity ...
Office, the neighbouring Telegraph & Post Office and the brick Court House on Barkly Street. All sit on the Police Camp block, which was bounded by Barkly, Ligar, High and Ingor Streets.


Sub-Treasury & Assay Office 1858

Sub-Treasuries were established at major gold fields from the late 1850s onwards by the Victorian Government to receive and hold the gold recovered from the diggings. There were Sub-Treasuries at Ballarat, Castlemaine, Beechworth, Sandhurst endigo Maryborough and Ararat. Several survive. The Sub-Treasury building in Beechworth (1856) which was repurposed as the in the 1880s as the Police Station is on

The main (Old) Old Treasury Building, Melbourne, Treasury Building in Melbourne was completed in 1862. The Ararat Sub-Treasury & Assay Office (1858) was the sixth to be opened.https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/25/download-report The value of the gold received by the Ararat Sub-Treasury in that year was £29,820 7sh 2d with a value in the 2020
in the order of $15m
(The Victoria Heritage Database records the 1993 relocation to Ballarat of the wooden flat-pack building (1857) used by the Ararat Gold Warden and originally located in Campbell Street, Ararat

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Telegraph & Post Office 1861

The Telegraph & Post Office (1861), is one of the oldest surviving Post Office buildings in Victoria. It was the first Victorian Post Office to be designed in the Italianate style with, for example, an arched arcade or
loggia In architecture, a loggia ( , usually , ) is a covered exterior Long gallery, gallery or corridor, often on an upper level, sometimes on the ground level of a building. The corridor is open to the elements because its outer wall is only parti ...
(since filled in). Under the influence of William Wardle, who had been appointed Inspector-General and Chief Architect at the beginning of 1861, many more Victorian Post Offices were constructed in this style including for example the Post Office in Stawell. The Ararat building is unusual among Post Offices in that the bluestone wall has not been rendered. In 1861 the mail to Melbourne closed at 07:00 and the inbound Melbourne mail was scheduled for 14:30. Following completion of the building, the Telegraph Office moved in. The town had been linked by telegraph since1858 when the line was extended from Ballarat via a Post Office that was variously called Raglan, Firey Creek, or Beaufort. The telegraph went live on Thursday 11 November 1858. Reporting the first communication on the line, a journalist wrote ‘Now through the click click, of the small mysterious brass apparatus we find ourselves within a minute of Melbourne’. 1876, the Post Office incorporated the Sub-Treasury Building. In April 1888 the Mayor asked the Postmaster General to provide the building with a clock, which was added in 1889.


Court House 1866 - 1867

In the 1850s the jurisdiction of the Ararat Courts expanded rapidly. In 1857 the Court of Petty Sessions, County Court and Gold Fields Local Court District all sat in Ararat. In 1859 was added the Court of Mines and a General Sessions District that could consider criminal cases. These Courts sat in a bluestone building on the corner of High and Vincent Streets that is now the site of the municipal offices. By the time the current building was completed the Ararat Courts had been included in the Supreme Court Circuit. Today the Courthouse is used for Magistrates’ and Children’s Court sittings. The distinctive building with its two-colour brickwork is in the Free Classical style as are other court houses of the time including the old Court House in Beaufor


Infrastructure


Transport

The main form of
transport Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...
is
road transport Road transport or road transportation is a type of transport using roads. Transport on roads can be roughly grouped into the transportation of goods and transportation of people. In many countries licensing requirements and safety regulations e ...
and
motor vehicle A motor vehicle, also known as a motorized vehicle, automotive vehicle, automobile, or road vehicle, is a self-propelled land vehicle, commonly wheeled, that does not operate on railway track, rails (such as trains or trams), does not fly (such ...
s. According to the 2006 Census, 88% of people traveled to work by motor vehicle, the vast majority of which traveled by
automobile A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...
. Ararat is situated at the junction of several main roads including the Western Highway via High Street (running eastward to Ballarat and Melbourne and westward to Horsham and Adelaide); the Pyrenees Highway via Vincent Street (running east to Avoca and Maryborough); Ararat-Pomonal Road via Barkly Street (westward towards Halls Gap) and the Mortlake-Ararat Road via Vincent Street (running south with connections to the west and
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...
, south and
Warrnambool Warrnambool (; Eastern Maar, Maar: ''Peetoop'' or ''Wheringkernitch'' or ''Warrnambool'') is a city on the south-western coast of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the Census in Australia#2021, 2021 census, Warrnambool had a populati ...
and to the east and
Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...
). Ararat's urban area streets are laid out in
grid plan In urban planning, the grid plan, grid street plan, or gridiron plan is a type of city plan in which streets run at right angles to each other, forming a grid. Two inherent characteristics of the grid plan, frequent intersections and orthogon ...
. Roads are also important for
public transport Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whic ...
. Ararat Transit provides 120 bus services on three routes 6 days a week, connecting with train services. According to the 2006 Census, just 4 persons in Ararat traveled to work by bus.
Taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a Driving, driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of thei ...
services are provided by Ararat Cabs (since November 2010), provides 6 normal taxi-cabs and 1 wheel-chair bus, capable of 2 wheelchairs or 10 standard passengers.
Rail transport Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
includes both
passenger rail A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line, as opposed to a freight train that carries goods. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) push-pull train, ...
and freight rail. The city's only station is Ararat's railway station which is on the Ararat railway line and is the terminal train station for the
Ararat V/Line rail service The Ballarat line is a regional passenger rail service operated by V/Line in Victoria, Australia. It serves 13 stations towards its terminus in Ballarat's western suburb of Wendouree via Melton and Bacchus Marsh. Services are operated p ...
. Twice daily peak VLocity services run to
Ballarat Ballarat ( ) () is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Ballarat had a population of 111,973, making it the third-largest urban inland city in Australia and the third-largest city in Victoria. Within mo ...
(53 minutes) and on to
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
(133–143 minutes), with some trains stopping at stations in between. The rail station is at the junction of the Ararat line, the Western standard gauge railway and Avoca railway. ''
The Overland ''The Overland'' is an interstate passenger train service in Australia, travelling between the state capitals of Melbourne and Adelaide, a distance of 828 km (515 mi). It first ran in 1887 as the ''Adelaide Express'', known by Sout ...
'' runs to Melbourne twice weekly (140 minutes) and travel to
Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...
is also possible (8 hours). A regional
airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...
,
Ararat Airport Ararat Airport is south-west of Ararat, Victoria, Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the islan ...
YARA (ARY) is located 5 km south of the city on the Western Highway and provides for
general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...
.


Health

Ararat & District Hospital (established in 1850) is a major regional hospital and is coordinated by the East Grampians Health Service and Ararat Medical Centre.


Utilities

Water and waste-water services are supplied by Grampians-Wimmera-Mallee Water (GWMWater). Ararat's water supply source is a combination of Mt Cole Reservoir and Lake Fyans, with the smaller Langi Ghiran (Picnic Road) Reservoir also part of the water supply system. Olivers Gully and Copes Hill reservoirs provide additional water storage.


Notable people

* Rob Borbidgepolitician, 35th
Premier of Queensland The premier of Queensland is the head of government in the Australian state of Queensland. By convention the premier is the leader of the party with a parliamentary majority in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The premier is appointed ...
* Shane KellyOlympic cyclist and silver and bronze medallist * Rene KinkAustralian Rules footballer * Neil MurrayArarat-born, Lake Bolac-raised singer-songwriter *
Air Chief Marshal Air chief marshal (Air Chf Mshl or ACM) is a high-ranking air officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many Commonwealth of Nations, countries that have historical British i ...
Sir Frederick Schergerborn in Ararat on 18 May 1904 * James Scobie (1860–1940)jockey and racehorse trainer, was born in or near Ararat * Geoff Toddartist * Ella WoodAustralian Women's Rules footballer


See also

*
Australian gold rushes During the Australian gold rushes, starting in 1851, significant numbers of workers moved from elsewhere in History of Australia, Australia and overseas to where gold had been discovered. Gold had been found several times before, but the Colo ...


References


External links


Ararat OnlineHistory of Ararat
{{Authority control 1857 establishments in Australia Western District (Victoria) Populated places established in 1857 Mining towns in Victoria (state)