Healesville

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Template:More citations needed Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use Australian English Template:Infobox Australian place

Healesville is a town in Victoria, Australia, 64 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district, located within the Shire of Yarra Ranges local government area. Healesville recorded a population of 7,589 in the 2021 census.<ref name=ABS2021/>

Healesville is situated on the Watts River, a tributary of the Yarra River.

The outskirts of Healesville is home to a wildlife sanctuary, called Healesville Sanctuary.Template:Citation needed

History

Traffic to the more distant Gippsland and Yarra Valley goldfields in the 1860s resulted in a settlement forming on the Watts River<ref>Template:Cite news, ...No works have been at present executed upon this permanent line until the track reaches the township of Healesville, near the Watts river...</ref> and its survey as a town in 1864. It was named after Richard Heales, the Premier of Victoria from 1860–1861.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The post office opened on 1 May 1865.<ref name = "a">Template:Citation</ref> The town became a setting off point for the Woods Point Goldfield with the construction of the Yarra Track in the 1870s.Template:Citation needed

Present

File:Healsville Panorama on 230422.jpg
Healesville panorama, shot in April 2022

Healesville is known for the Healesville Sanctuary, a nature park with hundreds of native Australian animals displayed in a semi-open natural setting and an active platypus breeding program.Template:Citation needed

The Yarra Valley Railway operates from Healesville Station on every Sunday, most public holidays and Wednesday to Sunday during school holidays.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

Schools in Healesville include the Healesville Primary School, St Brigid's Catholic primary school, the rural Chum Creek Primary School, Badger Creek Primary School, Healesville High School and Worawa Aboriginal College, an Aboriginal school whose former students include Australian Rules Footballer David Wirrpanda.Template:Fact

Much of what is now Healesville lies on the ancestral land of the Wurundjeri people. An Aboriginal reserve known as Coranderrk, set up in 1863, was located just south of the main township.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Industries in and around Healesville include sawmilling, horticulture, tourism and viticulture.

Healesville has an active CFA (Country Fire Authority) volunteer fire brigade established in 1894. The Healesville Rural Fire Brigade was formed in 1941, then disbanded and membership amalgamated with the Healesville Urban Fire Brigade in 1985. The amalgamation of the Chum Creek Rural Fire Brigade with the Healesville brigade occurred in 1996. The Healesville Fire Brigade<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> now operates a main and a satellite station with members from both the Healesville and Chum Creek areas.

Healesville is the southern terminus of the Bicentennial Heritage Trail, which, at 5,330 km (3,310 mi), is the longest trail of its type in the world. Template:Citation needed The northern end of the trail is at Cooktown, Queensland, a town 328 kilometres (204 mi) north of Cairns.

Population

At the time of the 2021 census, there were 7,589 people in Healesville.

  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 3.2% of the population.
  • 79.5% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were England 5.4% and New Zealand 1.7%.
  • 90% of people spoke only English at home.
  • The most common responses for religion were No Religion 55.8%, Catholic 13.7% and Anglican 8.9%.<ref name="ABS2016">Template:Cite web</ref>

Sport

The town has an Australian rules football team, the Healesville Football Club, competing in the Yarra Valley Mountain District Football League.<ref name="d">Template:Citation</ref>

Healesville has a cricket club, the Healesville Cricket Club, which competes in the Ringwood and District Cricket Association junior and senior competitions.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Healesville has a tennis club, the Healesville Tennis Club, which competes in the Eastern Region Tennis junior and senior competitions.

Healesville has a picnic horse racing club, Healesville Amateur Racing, which holds around seven race meetings a year with the Healesville Cup meeting in January.<ref name="RaceClub">Template:Citation</ref>

The Healesville Greyhound Racing Club also holds regular greyhound racing meetings at the Healesville Showgrounds and Sporting Complex on Don Road.<ref name="dogs">Template:Citation</ref>

Golfers play at the course of the RACV Country Club on Yarra Glen Road.<ref name = "golf">Template:Citation</ref>

Healesville has a soccer team known as Healesville Soccer Club that plays in the Victorian State League 4 East.

Notable people

Tourism

Healesville has been a tourist destination since the 1880s, with the Grand Hotel built in 1888, and the 60-room Gracedale House in 1889.<ref name="trove.nla.gov.au">Template:Cite web</ref>

A Tourist and Progress Association was created in the 1920s.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The association published "Healesville, The World-famed Tourist Resort",<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> listing over 40 beauty spots and 20 hotels and guest houses.

The construction of the Maroondah Dam in the 1920s brought several hundred workmen to Healesville. Their departure and the onset of the 1930s depression exposed Healesville's restricted range of industries. Timber and tourism were not stable enough for sustained and reliable growth. Notwithstanding the depression, the 1930s saw increased motor tourism (partly bypassing Healesville) and decreased railway patronage. Only 10% came by rail at Easter 1934.Template:Citation needed Tourism was still active but a local newspaper commented that Healesville would be "heaps better off calling itself the good-time town instead of the world-famed-tourist-resort—that's got whiskers on it".<ref name="trove.nla.gov.au" />

In modern times Healesville has become a centre for tourism based around the wine and food industries of the Yarra Valley, with attractions including Healesville Sanctuary, Badger Weir Picnic Area, Yarra Valley Railway, Healesville Organic Market, numerous cafes and restaurants, and volunteer-run events such as the Healesville Music Festival, Open Studios, and the Yarra Valley Rodeo.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The Memo, a centre for community arts and cultural activities, was built in 1924 as a soldier's memorial hall.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Film and television

The Internet Movie Database has Healesville and its environs as the filming locations for a number of films and TV programs: the Australian TV series Young Ramsay (1977), Felicity (1979), the natural history TV series Life on Earth (1979), Frog Dreaming (1986), the Australian TV short film Harry's War (1999) and Killer Elite (2011). Template:Citation needed

Climate

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See also

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References

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Template:Shire of Yarra Ranges suburbs

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