Yackandandah, Victoria

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Yackandandah Victoria
Population:	2103 (2006)^[1]
Postcode:	3749
Location:	285 km (177 mi) NE of Melbourne 28 km (17 mi) S of Wodonga
LGA:	Shire of Indigo
State District:	Benambra
Federal Division:	Indi

Yackandandah is a small tourist town in northeast Victoria, Australia. It is near the industrial towns of Wodonga and Albury, and is close to the tourist town of Beechworth. At the 2006 census, Yackandandah had a population of 2103.

1 History
2 Rail
3 Culture
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

It is a former gold mining centre known for it alluvial wet mining techniques. The area is now a dairy farming and forestry and has numerous bed and breakfast lodges, which allows its many visitors to enjoy the peace and tranquility of the district's forest and mountains. It is affectionately known as 'Yack'. The commercial centre of the town, known as the Yackandandah Conservation Area, is recorded on the Register of the National Estate.

The Lass of Yackandandah- a goldfield beauty

In his local book, O'Brien (p. 22) quotes an old poem published in the Melbourne Punch, June, 11, 1857, titled, "The Lass of Yackandandah".

"Let poets sing of English girls,

Their beauty and their candour;

Give me a sweeter nymph than all, -

The lass of Yackandandah."

"She draws a cork with such and air,

No mortal can withstand her;

She turns a tap, and turns our heads,-

The lass of Yackandandah."

[edit] Rail

A railway once linked Yackandandah to Beechworth which opened in 1891. The route to Woorragee and from there to Yackandandah was steep. Trains descending the last gradient into Yackandandah would halt,(near the now Yackandandah turnoff, from the Beechworth-Wodonga Road) the guard would apply hand-brakes to carriages and wagons. The last train on the Yackandandah-Beechworth line was in July 1954. (Larsen, MayDay Hills) Though the line was torn up, many sections of the original right of way are visible from the roadway between Beechworth and Yack.

[edit] Culture

Used for the filming of the 2003 film, Strange Bedfellows, (starring Michael Caton and Paul Hogan), Yackandandah is also home to the annual Yackandandah Folk Festival attracting local, Australian and international artists. Like its larger neighbour, Yackandandah promotes itself as a tourist destination on the basis of its gold mining history, and features a period streetscape and an increasing number of antique shops.

Two historic buildings, the 146-year-old museum (formerly the Bank of Victoria) and an adjacent timber store ("Rainbow Crystal"), were destroyed by a fire in the early morning of December 21, 2006. A real estate agency was also severely damaged.

History Books on the area

O'Brien, Antony. Shenanigans on the Ovens goldfields: The 1859 election, Artillery Publishing, Hartwell, 2005.
Larsen, Wal. The Mayday Hills Railway, Wal Larsen, Bright, 1976.