| Ballarat
( [show location on an interactive map] 37°33'S, 143°51'E)
(formerly known as "Ballaarat") is a city in
Victoria, Australia and one of the country's largest inland
cities.
It is approximately 105 kilometres (65
mi) north-west of Melbourne, with an urban population
of 85,197[2] people. The city lies at 441 metres (1,447
ft) AHD and consists of an area of approximately 740 square
kilometres (286 sq mi), with the city occupying a built
up area of approximately 75 square kilometres (29 sq mi).
Gold was discovered near Ballarat in
1851, and the influx of over 10,000 miners in less than
a year transformed it from a pastoral town into Victoria's
largest city. Ballarat is notable as the site for Australia's
only armed civil uprising, colloquially referred to as
the Eureka Stockade but more correctly titled the Eureka
Rebellion, which took place on 3 December 1854.
While the city's growth slowed after
the 1880s and Melbourne quickly overshadowed its importance,
Ballarat remains a major inland regional centre and tourist
destination, having retained much of its Victorian era
heritage and is known for its grand heritage listed buildings
and gardens.
The site of the city was originally
a stock station established by William Cross Yuille and
Henry Anderson in 1838 and named Ballarat (originally
under the spelling Ballaarat), which was derived from
local Aboriginal dialect meaning 'resting place'. Settlement,
originally known as Ballarat, flourished in the early
1850s when gold was discovered. The area where gold was
found was situated North East of Ballarat, about 3 miles
away. The total area was about 1 square mile, and an estimated
200,000 osz. of gold are said to have been extracted from
the area. This made Ballarat the wealthiest city in the
district. However several other gold fields in the Ballarat
area were important as well: the Berringa and Enfield
Gold Fields, both were located 25 miles South of Ballarat.
With a huge influx of population and
wealth as a major participant in the Gold Rush, Ballarat
was, for a time, Victoria's largest township. It was proclaimed
a city in 1871. Nerrena Fossickers in Nerrena Creek outside
Ballarat
Ballarat is notable as the site for
Australia's only armed civil uprising, colloquially referred
to as the Eureka Stockade but more correctly titled the
Eureka Rebellion, which took place on 3 December 1854.
The event, in which 22 miners died, is considered a defining
moment in Australian history. The purported site of the
rebellion contains an historical park and a memorial to
the event. The remains of the original Eureka Flag are
on public display in the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery.
During the last 50 years of the 19th
century Ballarat prospered on gold mining. The confidence
of the city's early citizens in the future of the city
is evident in the sheer scale of many of the early public
buildings, generous public recreational spaces, and opulence
of many of its commercial establishments and housing.
The period from the 1880s to the early 20th century witnessed
a successful transition from a gold rush town to an industrial
age city. Many industries and workshops that had been
established as a result of manufacturing and servicing
for the deep lead mining industry during the 19th century
later made successful transition into engineering and
manufacturing businesses throughout the 20th century.
In 1930 an aerodrome was established,
which was ceded to the Commonwealth in 1940 as part of
the Empire Air Training Scheme. During WWII the base was
a RAAF Wireless Air Gunners' School as well as the base
for USAF Liberator bomber squadrons. During the war the
airport was expanded and consisted of three sealed runways
of which two were over 2,000 metres (6,550 ft) long and
45 metres (150 ft) wide. The aerodrome remained the RAAF
School of Radio until 1961 when it was returned to civil
operations. The City of Ballarat is the civil operator
of the aerodrome. The site is now listed on the Victorian
Heritage Register for its social and historic significance.
After World War II, Ballarat expanded
significantly to the North West. An acute post war housing
shortage was eased with the establishment of an extensive
government housing estate on the former Ballarat Common
(Today known as Wendouree West). The estate was originally
planned to contain over 750 prefabricated houses. Whilst
planning for the estate began in 1949, main construction
occurred between 1951 to 1962. During the 1970s a further
300 houses were constructed. Private housing in the adjacent
suburb of Wendouree closely matched and eventually eclipsed
this by the mid 1960s. The suburb of greater Wendouree
and Wendouree West had evolved by the 1970s as the suburban
middle-class heart of the city.
From the late 1970s and early 1980s
urban growth slowed in Wendouree and began expanding to
the Southern and Western corridors of the city. In 2007
growth of the city for the next 30 years is being planned
for to the west of the city centre and through the redevelopment
of inner city housing blocks, and other under-developed
inner city land in the East that is being redeveloped
to create a higher density housing structure. Throughout
the 20th century Ballarat maintained steady economic and
population growth, keeping pace with that of the Australian
national average without ever experiencing any significant
growth surges. Steady population and economic growth has
enabled the city to mature and preserve much of its historical
grandeur and beauty whilst accommodating thoughtful and
modern development. Ballarat's modern architecture was
designed to blend with the old with examples being the
City Library, the Law Courts and Justice Centre and the
Ballarat Base Hospital.
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