TASFarming
Glenorchy
Orchards on the road north became southern Tasmania’s second shopping centre.
1804First land grants made
WHAT STARTED IT
Glenorchy lies on the western shore of the River Derwent between Hobart and the foothills of Mount Wellington, on the main road north. Land grants were made there from 1804, and by the late 19th century its slopes were covered with orchards.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
Farms, inns, churches and small villages grew along the rivulets, and in 1864 Glenorchy became a rural municipality of 208 dwellings. Around the First World War the zinc works at Risdon and Cadbury’s chocolate factory brought industry, and after the Second World War large housing estates and many European migrants swelled its population.
TURNING POINTS
1804The first land grants are made in the Glenorchy area.
1864Glenorchy is declared a rural municipality.
1917Work begins on the Electrolytic Zinc Company’s works at Risdon.
1954Brooker Avenue, the Glenorchy section of the new northern outlet road, is opened on 11 October.
1964Glenorchy becomes a city, a century after becoming a municipality.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
The seat of the City of Glenorchy, with the second-largest shopping district in southern Tasmania. Elwick Racecourse and the Hobart Showground sit on its eastern side.
KEEP READING · SOURCESCompanion to Tasmanian History · GlenorchyTrove · Launceston Examiner, 7 April 1864, ‘Official Notices’Trove · The Mercury, 21 December 1896, ‘Fruitgrowing at Glenorchy’Trove · Examiner, 6 January 1917, ‘Electrolytic Zinc Works: Erection of First Unit Started’Trove · The Mercury, 9 October 1954, ‘Opening of New North Road on Monday’Trove · The Mercury, 13 July 1940, ‘Showground Changes’Libraries Tasmania · Glenorchy City Council (TA430)Glenorchy City Council · About our city