36-736: The Ararat Advertiser is a newspaper published in Ararat, Victoria , Australia . It is one of the oldest continuously operating newspapers in Victoria, second in age only to the Geelong Advertiser . The paper is now published by Fairfax Media . With the Liverpool printing industry facing periodic unemployment and worsening industrial conditions, formally trained printers and stationers Jabez Walter Banfield and James Gearing emigrated to Australia in search of gold. Arriving on 10 October 1852, they followed
72-621: A new company controlled by the Ballarat Courier in early 1962. It was known as the Ararat and Pleasant Creek Advertiser from 1861 to 1885, then as Ararat Advertiser from 1885 to the present day. Some editions of the paper has been digitised as part of the Australian Newspapers Digitisation Program of the National Library of Australia . As of 8 March 2018, these were all editions published in
108-557: A population of 11,880 with 2,973 families total. 88% of people in Ararat were born in Australia. 62% of people in Ararat identify as Christian . Anglican and Catholic faiths are evenly represented with 18% of people identifying with each. The city is the location of the municipal offices and seat of government for the Rural City of Ararat local government area . Ararat is represented by
144-507: A psychiatric facility for the criminally insane. The Hospital remained open as a treatment facility until 1997 and has since become the site for paranormal and haunted house tours. Vines were planted in 1863 by Swiss settlers, the Pola family. The formally recognised traditional owners for the area in which Ararat sits, north-west of Campbell Street and the Pyrenees Highway and north-east of
180-485: A recreational gliding club that supports "Yes Girls Glide" and has a successful juniors program. Association football is played at junior level, with the Ararat and Grampians YMCA school competition from years 8–12. The city's main community festival is known as the Golden Gateway Festival and has run since 1958 when it was set up to commemorate the city's centenary. The Jailhouse Rock Festival (since 1994
216-516: A retro 1950s themed festival) is the other major festival event in Ararat. Two Royal Australian Navy ships have been named after this town. HMAS Ararat (K34) , a Bathurst -class corvette, and HMAS Ararat (ACPB 89) , an Armidale -class patrol boat. In 2014 Ararat residents appeared in the Channel 10 hit show The Biggest Loser . Ararat was the setting for the 2008 film Lake Mungo . Popular tourist destinations include
252-603: Is Ararat's railway station which is on the Ararat railway line and is the terminal train station for the Ararat V/Line rail service . Twice daily peak VLocity services run to Ballarat (53 minutes) and on to Melbourne (133–143 minutes), with some trains stopping at stations in between. The rail station is at the junction of the Ararat line, the Western standard gauge railway and Avoca railway . The Overland runs to Melbourne twice weekly (140 minutes) and travel to Adelaide
288-508: Is 8,500 and services the region of 11,880 residents across the Rural City's boundaries. It is also the home of the 2018/19 GMGA Golf Championship Final. It is the largest settlement in the Rural City of Ararat local government area and is the administrative centre. The discovery of gold in 1857 during the Victorian gold rush transformed it into a boomtown which continued to prosper until
324-450: Is a combination of Mt Cole Reservoir and Lake Fyans, with the smaller Langi Ghiran (Picnic Road) Reservoir also part of the water supply system. Olivers Gully and Copes Hill reservoirs provide additional water storage. Horatio Wills Horatio Spencer Howe Wills (5 October 1811 – 17 October 1861) was an Australian pastoralist, politician and newspaper owner. Born in Sydney in
360-471: Is a regional commerce centre. Hopkins Correctional Centre , formerly known as H.M. Prison Ararat, is located on the town's eastern outskirts. Servicing visitors to the Grampians National Park and the local wine industry, tourism is a relatively small but significant industry in Ararat, employing 150 people and generating around $ 8 million to the economy, however its impact on the surrounding region
396-596: Is also possible (8 hours). A regional airport , Ararat Airport YARA (ARY) is located 5 km south of the city on the Western Highway and provides for general aviation . Ararat & District Hospital (established in 1850) is a major regional hospital and is coordinated by the East Grampians Health Service and Ararat Medical Centre. Water and waste-water services are supplied by Grampians-Wimmera-Mallee Water (GWMWater). Ararat's water supply source
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#1733093249255432-656: Is driven by primary industries of the region including wool, beef and the Grampians Wine Region. The region has a number of wind farms including the Challicum Hills Wind Farm produce large amounts of renewable energy to the National Electricity Market . It is also home to AF Gason Pty Ltd one of Australia's largest manufacturers of farm machinery and wood heating. The city also has a significant service economy with health, community services and
468-695: Is now home to the Ararat Regional Art Gallery , and the Ararat Performing Arts Centre for the city. Australian rules football is a popular sport in Ararat. The Ararat Football Club (formed in 1871) was a founding club of the Wimmera Football League and continues to compete with its most recent premiership in 2023. A second club, the Ararat Eagles Football Club was formed more recently in 2000 to play in
504-653: Is significant with tourists spending $ 270 million annually. Key tourist attractions include the Ararat Regional Art Gallery, Mount Langi Ghiran winery, tours through Aradale (Australia's largest abandoned 1800s lunatic asylum) and the Gum San Chinese Heritage Centre. Ararat is nestled between several mountain ranges, including the Grampians National Park , Mount Langi Ghiran, Mount Cole , Mount Buangor, Ararat Hills Regional Park and
540-593: Is situated at the junction of several main roads including the Western Highway via High Street (running eastward to Ballarat and Melbourne and westward to Horsham and Adelaide); the Pyrenees Highway via Vincent Street (running east to Avoca and Maryborough); Ararat-Pomonal Road via Barkly Street (westward towards Halls Gap ) and the Mortlake-Ararat Road via Vincent Street (running south with connections to
576-572: The Ark we rested" and named a nearby hill Mt Ararat . It is from this entry and the nearby Mount that the town takes its name. The post office opened 1 February 1856 although known as Cathcart until 31 August 1857. In 1857, a party of Chinese miners en route to the Central Victorian gold fields struck gold at the Canton Lead which marked the beginning of great growth in Ararat. The Chinese community
612-741: The Grampians region of the Port Phillip District (now the state of Victoria). Wills was one of the first settlers in the area, and purchased a 125,000-acre (510 km ) property named Lexington near Moyston . He built a house on the property; completed in 1845, it still exists and is now heritage-listed. While at Lexington he is credited as having named nearby Mount Ararat, from which the city of Ararat takes its name. He hired aborigines as station hands and harvesters on his property. In 1852, Wills sold Lexington and moved to Belle Vue in Geelong . Wills
648-708: The Lexton Plains Football League , but now play in the Mininera & District Football League . Like many country football clubs, Ararat's clubs offer netball as a popular sport for women in Ararat, with the Ararat Rats representing the city in the Wimmera Netball Association . The horse racing club , the Wimmera Racing Club, schedules around five race meetings a year at Ararat including
684-482: The Victorian gold rush to Melbourne , where they went into partnership with Edward Holt Nuthall, a printer recently arrived from India. In May 1855 the trio returned to the central goldfields to invest in a printing plant in Maryborough. Between 1855 and 1864 Banfield and Gearing were associated with newspaper or printing offices in thirteen towns. First published on 1 August 1857 as a free single sheet newspaper under
720-411: The federal Division of Wannon . For law enforcement , Ararat has a single police station as well as a magistrates court and a children's court all located on Barkly Street. Ararat has four primary schools - Ararat Primary (colloquially known as "Ararat 800" by locals); Ararat West Primary; Ararat North Primary and St Mary's Catholic Primary School. In addition there are several kindergartens in
756-497: The Ararat (gold) diggings lie', 'Warrayatkin' refers to Green Hill Lake, 'Butingitch' refers to the Ararat town site, 'Gorambeep barak' refers to Mount Ararat, and 'Pandort' refers to a large waterhole to the south. Europeans first settled in the Grampians region in the 1840s after surveyor Thomas Mitchell passed through the area in 1836. In 1841, Horatio Wills , on his way to selecting country further south, wrote in his diary, "like
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#1733093249255792-780: The Ararat Cup meeting in November. Ararat Harness Racing Club conducts regular meetings at its racetrack in the town. Golfers play at the Aradale Golf Club on Grano Street or at the course of the Chalambar Golf Club on Golf Links Road. Motocross has become a popular sport in the area, and the Ararat Motorcycle Club regularly holds events up to state level. Ararat is also home to the Grampians Soaring Club,
828-534: The British penal colony of New South Wales , Wills grew up on George Street with his mother Sarah Harding, a free settler, and his step father George Howe , a convict. Wills' father Edward Spencer Wills, a convict who was transported in 1799 for highway robbery , died five months before his birth. Wills worked as a printer and editor for Australia's first newspaper, The Sydney Gazette , before founding his own journal, The Currency Lad , in 1832. In it, he promoted
864-444: The Gum San Chinese Heritage Centre, Aradale Lunatic Asylum Tours, Langi Morgala Museum, The Astor Cinema, and J Ward. Guests can attend a day time history tour of J Ward or be incarcerated for an evening on the J Ward Ghost Tour. The main form of transport is road transport and motor vehicles . According to the 2006 Census, 88% of people traveled to work by motor vehicle, the vast majority of which traveled by automobile . Ararat
900-508: The Pyrenees Ranges. Cemetery Creek, the valley's main catchment runs through the north of the town while Green Hill lake is on the city's eastern fringe. Ararat has a temperate Mediterranean climate ( Köppen Csb ), with warm summers that are frequently interrupted by cold fronts ; and cool, usually rainy, winters. As of the 2021 census, Ararat City has a population of 7,015 with 1831 families total. The Ararat Local Government Area has
936-656: The Western Highway and Lambert Street are the Wotjobaluk , Jardwadjali (also known as Jaadwa), Wergaia and Jupagalk nations. These nations are represented by the Barengi Gadjin Land Council Aboriginal Corporation . The formally recognised traditional owners for the area in which Ararat sits, south-east of Campbell Street and the Pyrenees Highway are the Djab Wurrung people. The Djab Wurrung people are represented by Martang Pty Ltd. In
972-621: The area of Ararat that is south-west of the Western Highway and Lambert Street, traditional owners have not yet been formally recognised. However, the Eastern Maar people are negotiating a recognition and settlement agreement with the Victorian Government. The boundary of the agreement is under negotiation. The Eastern Maar people are represented by the Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation (EMAC). Ararat's economy
1008-658: The city. There are two main secondary colleges, Ararat College and Marian College , the latter of which is a Catholic secondary school. Ararat has regional campuses of the Federation University Australia (formerly the University of Ballarat) and Melbourne Polytechnic (formerly the Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE). Ararat's National Trust listed former town hall with its elaborate clock tower, designed by Molloy and Smith and built in 1899,
1044-635: The five years 1914–1918. Ararat, Victoria Ararat ( Djabwurrung : Tallarambooroo ) is a town in the Central Highlands region in Victoria , Australia , about 198 kilometres (120 mi) west of Melbourne, on the Western Highway on the eastern slopes of the Ararat Hills and Cemetery Creek valley between Victoria's Western District and the Wimmera . Its urban population according to 2021 census
1080-430: The interests of " currency lads and lasses " (native-born white Australians) and made the earliest arguments for a form of Australian republicanism , prefiguring the nationalist attitudes of the late 19th century. He fathered nine children, including Tom Wills , Australia's first great cricketer and founder of Australian rules football . In the late 1830s, Wills took up pastoralism and overlanded with his family to
1116-481: The name Mount Ararat Advertiser , the paper was distributed throughout the Mount Ararat gold diggings. A report at the time estimated the number of people on the diggings to be between 40,000 and 50,000. Six months after the death of Nuthall, Banfield bought the newspaper business for £1012 10s when it was auctioned on 20 March 1861. Banfield died in 1899 and the newspaper remained in the family's control until sold to
Ararat Advertiser - Misplaced Pages Continue
1152-504: The town which was named by politician/pastoralist Horatio Wills in 1841. Ararat is the only city in Australia founded by Chinese people. Prior to the European settlement of Australia , Ararat was inhabited by the Djab wurrung group of Aboriginal Australian people. The area encompassing Ararat has many Djabwurrung language placenames; 'Karangajaruk' refers to 'the valley in which Cathcart and
1188-520: The turn of the 20th century, after which it has steadily declined in population. It was proclaimed as a city on 24 May 1950. After a decline in population over the 1980s and 90s, there has been a small but steady increase in the population, and it is the site of many existing and future, large infrastructure projects, including the Hopkins Correctional Facility development project. It is named after Mount Ararat 10 kilometres south-west of
1224-640: The west and Hamilton , south and Warrnambool and to the east and Geelong ). Ararat's urban area streets are laid out in grid plan . Roads are also important for public transport . Ararat Transit provides 120 bus services on three routes 6 days a week, connecting with train services. According to the 2006 Census, just 4 persons in Ararat traveled to work by bus. Taxi services are provided by Ararat Cabs (since November 2010), provides 6 normal taxi-cabs and 1 wheel-chair bus, capable of 2 wheelchairs or 10 standard passengers. Rail transport includes both passenger rail and freight rail . The city's only station
1260-610: Was elected to the Victorian Legislative Council for Grant on 10 January 1855; and was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly for South Grant in November 1856, a position he held until August 1859. In 1861, Horatio moved north to Queensland, at Cullin-la-ringo in the Nogoa region near Rockhampton . Less than three weeks later, Wills was murdered by aborigines , along with 18 of his employees at
1296-466: Was substantial in Ararat, and the Gum San Chinese Heritage Centre commemorates the history of the community. Rapid growth brought about a municipality, which was incorporated as a borough on 24 September 1858. In the aftermath of the goldrush, Ararat soon became known for its asylum. The Aradale Mental Hospital opened in 1865 with the former the Ararat County Gaol converted in 1887 to J Ward ,
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