Huon River & Bridge at Huonville, Tasmania, Australia 1923
By Remembering the Past Australia / August 12, 2020 / Australia / 0 Comments
Place:
Huonville, Tasmania, Australia
Date:
1923
Historical Information:
This image is part of the Colonial Office photographic collection held at The National Archives UK.
Despite its closeness to Hobart, Huonville was not permanently settled until 1839 when Thomas and William Walton took up a land grant. The area had seen a few escaped convicts and timber cutters, but dense bush, lack of arable land and difficulty of access proved impediments to permanent settlement. By 1853 a hundred people, mostly convicts, lived at Huonville. Over the next few decades better transport – a track to Hobart in 1855, a coaching service in 1869, a bridge over the Huon River in 1876 – and the growing apple industry led to steady development.
By the 1880s Huonville, with a hotel, shops, wharf and bridge, was the main town north of Franklin. Gazetted as a town in 1891, by the 1920s Huonville was the Huon’s administrative centre. Banking services from 1917, a short-lived high school in 1921, a new bridge and the arrival of electricity in 1926, and the ever-growing apple industry added further impetus to its importance. [The Companion to Tasmanian History. Huonville.]
Description:
Showing the Huon River & Bridge at Huonville, Tasmania, Australia. Original photo published 1923.
From the collection of:
