Maffra
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![]() Aerial view of Maffra (1948) |
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Maffra is a city in central Gippsland in the Australian state of Victoria , 220 km east of Melbourne . It belongs to the Local Government Area Wellington Shire . Their economy is largely based on dairy and other agriculture. The eight factories of the Murray-Goulburn Cooperative in Victoria are located there. Maffra is off the Princes Highway at Sale . The 2016 census found a population of 4,316.
history
The town's history began with a branch of the area's first cattle ranch , Boisdale , the Lachlan Macalister from a village on the island of South Uist in the Outer Hebrides , Scotland . The village was initially called Shepford , but Macalister named it "Maffra" after the Portuguese city of Mafra , where he served in the Napoleonic War .
Maffra was declared a city in the 1860s and the first post office opened on July 20, 1864.
For a long time it was the most important town for cattle breeding and processing in the central Gippsland and for many years had the only sugar factory in the country. The Sugar Beet Museum in Port of Maffra Park shows the remnants of the sugar industry. The building is an old, converted weighing house and clad in pine panels from the house of Charles and Grace Quirk , one of Maffra's first farmhouses.
Maffra today
Maffra has a Mardi Gras in March, the Maffra and District Agricultural, Pastoral and Horticultural Show in October and a tennis competition on Easter.
Maffra is said to have one of the most beautiful main streets in Victoria (Johnson Street). The Wellington Shire Parliament had the more than 100-year-old trees removed from the roadside because they were sick, but replaced them with young oaks.
The city has two elementary schools, Maffra Primary School and St. Mary's Primary School (Catholic). There is also a state secondary school, the '' Maffra Secondary College '', which can accept around 700 students. This school has a tight curriculum and is involved in a number of community programs.
The Maffra Shed , a collection point for lovers of classic cars, is now ready. It is an old sugar factory that the Car Club has breathed new life into. Classic car shows are held there, which attracts many people from the surrounding area.
The Maffra Historical Society is working on Bellbird Corner , transforming this area back into the popular picnic spot it was in the early years of the 20th century.
Sports
The city has a football team that plays in the Gippsland Football League .
Maffra is also home to a hockey club whose men's, women's and junior teams play in the East Gippsland Hockey Association .
Golfers play on the course at Maffra Golf Club on Fulton Road.
The basketball club's U14 boys team reached the 2008 Australian National Championship in Darwin , for which they qualified by winning the Victoria State Championship. They played in the Victorian Junior Basketball League (VJBL), the highest league in Victoria for young basketball players.
The senior football team have won six championships in seven years, two of them three in a row ( Traralgon won in 2004 ).
Known residents
- Bill Bennett, Carlton Blues football player
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Australian Bureau of Statistics : Maffra ( English ) In: 2016 Census QuickStats . June 27, 2017. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
- ↑ a b c Maffra, Victoria . Towns in Australia. ( Memento of the original from June 6, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Post Office List . Premier Postal History
- ^ West Gippsland Latrobe Football League . Full Points Footy ( Memento of the original from March 16, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Maffra . Golf Select