Taradale is a town in

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 ...

. It is located beside 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 li ...

between

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 ...

and

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is an Australian city in north-central Victoria. The city is located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2022, Bendigo has a popula ...

. Its local government area is the

Shire of Mount Alexander The Mount Alexander Shire (officially Shire of Mount Alexander) is a Local government areas of Victoria, local government area in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, located in the central part of the state. It covers an area of and, in ...

. At the , Taradale had a population of 448. The town is also located on the Melbourne to Bendigo railway line, although the

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 ...

was closed in 1976. The Taradale Viaduct, designed by William Bryson, carries the railway 36 metres above Back Creek, and was built between 1858 and 1862. Taradale has now been bypassed by the

Calder Freeway 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 lin ...

. Facilities in town include a petrol station/general store/post office and a cafe. There is also a primary school, public hall and CFA fire station plus a riverside park, picnic area, mineral springs and playground. Taradale provides a convenient approach to the Fryers Ridge Nature Conservation Reserve, an excellent wildflower area. The observation period runs from August to December.

History

Establishment of Taradale began with the discovery of gold in Central Victoria around 1851. The town lies on the route between Melbourne and Castlemaine, and was possibly a stopover for the famous

Cobb and Co Cobb & Co was the name used by several independent Australian coach businesses. The first company to use 'Cobb & Co' was established in 1853 by American Freeman Cobb and his partners. The name grew to great prominence in the late 19th century ...

. coach line which began in 1854 between Melbourne and Bendigo. A number of gold mining activities were carried out in and around the township itself including washing for alluvial gold in Back Creek and the sinking of shafts. Taradale Primary School opened in 1855. Taradale Post Office opened on 1 March 1856. A petition was made to the Governor of Victoria to proclaim the Municipality of Taradale in 1861. The town was named after the birthplace of Sir Roderick Murchison, Tarradale House, in Scotland, and many of the streets are named after famous figures of the day in science and geology, including

Charles Lyell Sir Charles Lyell, 1st Baronet, (14 November 1797 – 22 February 1875) was a Scottish geologist who demonstrated the power of known natural causes in explaining the earth's history. He is best known today for his association with Charles ...

Roderick Murchison Sir Roderick Impey Murchison, 1st Baronet (19 February 1792 – 22 October 1871) was a Scottish geologist who served as director-general of the British Geological Survey from 1855 until his death in 1871. He is noted for investigating and desc ...

Michael Faraday Michael Faraday (; 22 September 1791 – 25 August 1867) was an English chemist and physicist who contributed to the study of electrochemistry and electromagnetism. His main discoveries include the principles underlying electromagnetic inducti ...

and

Humphry Davy Sir Humphry Davy, 1st Baronet (17 December 177829 May 1829) was a British chemist and inventor who invented the Davy lamp and a very early form of arc lamp. He is also remembered for isolating, by using electricity, several Chemical element, e ...

Notable people

Notable people from, or who have lived in, Taradale:
Daniel Brophy
miner, businessman and politician * William Chalmers, Anglican minister * Robert Russell, surveyor * Frederick William Wray,

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

minister, army chaplain * Jack Dore, Australian rules footballer One of the early residents of the area, an Irish emigrant named Henry Alley, moved to New Zealand in the late 1850s and named his farm in the Hawke's Bay area, " Taradale", which is now a thriving town.

References

External links

Taradale Community Forum Website
Towns in Victoria (state) Mining towns in Victoria (state) 1861 establishments in Australia {{VictoriaAU-geo-stub