Harcourt is a small Central Highlands town located approximately 9 km northeast of Castlemaine, where the Midland Highway meets the

Calder Highway Calder Highway is a rural highway in Australia, linking Mildura and the Victoria/New South Wales border to Bendigo, in North Central Victoria. South of Bendigo, where the former highway has been upgraded to freeway-standard, Calder Freeway link ...

. At the 2021 census, Harcourt had a population of 1,038. The town was named after Sir William Harcourt.

History

The Post Office opened on 27 February 1858 replacing that of nearby Mount Alexander open since 1856.

Overview

Set in a valley at the foot of

Mount Alexander Mount Alexander is a mountain located approximately 125 km north-west of Melbourne, near the town of Harcourt. It rises 350 metres above the surrounding area to a level of 744 metres above sea level. Being a prominent local landmark, ...

, Harcourt was once the premier apple growing region in Australia (a title yielded to Tasmania some time ago). Still the apple centre of Victoria, the local area is fast getting a name for wine and cider production. Other things of interest in and around the town are

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salmoni ...

fishing and the numerous walking tracks in Mount Alexander Park. Within the park boundary there is an old

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

forest which was established by the tanning industry for the acorns. It is home to a World's largest apple. Each year on the March Labour Day long weekend the town hosts the Harcourt ApplefestThe Harcourt Applefest
/ref> with local produce on sale in stalls, music concerts and several sports on show. Harcourt

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

stone is widely used through Australia for soldier memorials, headstones and buildings of historical note. The town has an

Australian Rules 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 oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

football team competing in the

Maryborough Castlemaine District Football League The Maryborough Castlemaine District Football Netball League is an Australian rules football league based in central Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, Brit ...

. Harcourt railway station is on the

Bendigo line The Deniliquin railway line (also known as the Echuca railway line) is a broad-gauge railway line serving northwestern Victoria, Australia. The line runs from the border settlement of Deniliquin into Bendigo, before turning south-southeast to ...

, but has been closed since 1981. The closest operating train station is Castlemaine.
La Larr Ba Gauwa Mountain Bike Park
is riding distance (2 km) from the centre of Harcourt. Harcourt facilities include a small post office, a petrol station/general store, 2 cafes, community swimming pool, public hall, public toilets, recreation reserve, primary school and a motel.

References

External links

Community website
Through the auspices Harcourt Heritage and Tourism Centre Inc, a community website has been created to promote the Township, Organisations and Businesses in Harcourt. {{authority control Towns in Victoria (Australia)