VICPort & river
Warrnambool
A farming port with a difficult harbour.
1847Town allotments sold
WHAT STARTED IT
Lady Bay offered an outlet for produce from the western Victorian hinterland. The surveyed town grew as farmers and pastoralists needed shops, mills and a way to send goods to market.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
Considerable harbour spending could not remove the problems of weather and silting. Road and rail eventually displaced the shipping trade; the port closed in 1942. Dairying, woollen manufacturing and later clothing factories gave the city other foundations.
TURNING POINTS
1847Town allotments are sold.
1942The commercial port closes.
1947Fletcher Jones establishes trouser manufacturing.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
A regional centre for health, education and surrounding dairy country. Maritime heritage and coastal tourism preserve a connection with the old port.