Leitchville is a town in northern

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

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 ...

. The town is in the

Shire of Gannawarra The Shire of Gannawarra is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the northern part of the state. It covers an area of and, in August 2021 had a population of 10,683. It includes the towns of Cohuna, Kerang, Koondrook, Le ...

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 ...

, 262 kilometres from the state capital,

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 ...

. At the , Leitchville had a population of 558.

History

The district was named after the manager of Gunbower

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

, Duncan Leitch, following his death in 1887, and the Post Office opened on 1 October 1887. The township was gazetted in 1929. Many locals have now been pushing the council for the new name of Margaritaville to entice more tourism for business.

The town today

The major industry in Leitchville is dairy production; a Murray Goulburn cheese factory was located in the town, but closed in February 2010, with the loss of 80 jobs. Kow Swamp, the site of a major

palaeontological Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geolo ...

find providing insight into the origins of

Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

is located nearby. The town in conjunction with neighbouring township Gunbower 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 Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

football team competing in the

Heathcote District Football League The Heathcote District Football League (HDFL) is an Australian rules football competition based in the Heathcote, Victoria, Heathcote region and major Bendigo area with clubs based in the regions of City of Greater Bendigo, Shire of Campaspe, a ...

. Leitchville has a well-used Travellers Rest. It is not unusual to see several caravans or motor homes taking an overnight stop. There are public toilets nearby at the swimming pool and the Lions Club recently paid for the installation of a Dump Site at the local Recreation Reserve which is only a stone's throw from the Rest Stop. The Dump-Ezy was supplied by the CMCA.Gannawarra Shire, Leitchville Lions Club & Leitchville & District Progress Association

References

{{authority control Towns in Victoria (state)