Port Campbell

Port Campbell
Victoria
Aerial photograph of Port Campbell
Port Campbell is located in Corangamite Shire
Port Campbell
Port Campbell
Coordinates38°37′0″S 142°59′0″E / 38.61667°S 142.98333°E / -38.61667; 142.98333
Population478 (2016 census)[1]
Postcode(s)3269
Location
LGA(s)Corangamite Shire
State electorate(s)Polwarth
Federal division(s)Wannon
Mean max temp Mean min temp Annual rainfall
20 °C
68 °F		 7.5 °C
46 °F		 902.9 mm
35.5 in
Localities around Port Campbell:
Heytesbury Lower Newfield Waarre
Peterborough Port Campbell Princetown
Southern Ocean Southern Ocean Southern Ocean

Port Campbell (/ˈkæmbəl/)[2] is a coastal town in Victoria, Australia. The town is on the Great Ocean Road, west of the Twelve Apostles, in the Shire of Corangamite. At the 2016 census, Port Campbell had a population of 478.[3]

The Twelve Apostles Limestone structure

History

The port and the town are named after Captain Alexander Campbell, a whaler and colonist of the Port Fairy region.

The town was settled in the 1870s, with the first wharf being built in 1880.[4] Port Campbell Post Office opened on 19 March 1874. It was renamed Port Campbell West in 1881 when a new Port Campbell office opened near the wharf.[5] There were hopes of a rail connection when the Timboon line opened in 1892 but the state government vetoed the idea in 1916.

The town became a centre of infamy in 1970 when the bodies of a family from Melbourne were discovered in a car that had fallen over a cliff, see Crawford family murder.

The town used to be the centre of a football competition known as the Port Campbell Football Association that operated from 1927, it reformed after WWII as the Heytesbury Football League and ran until 1991.

At the 2001 census, Port Campbell had a population of 372. At the 2006 census, Port Campbell had a population of 599. At the 2011 census, Port Campbell had a population of 618.

Port Campbell is now a popular tourist destination for visiting The Twelve Apostles, located 12 kilometres to the east of the town and the Port Campbell National Park,[6] as well as maintaining a small crayfishing community.

  • The town seen from the war memorial lookout
    The town seen from the war memorial lookout
  • The headland of the harbour at Port Campbell
    The headland of the harbour at Port Campbell
  • The fishing docks
    The fishing docks
  • Lord Street
    Lord Street

References

  1. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Port Campbell (State Suburb)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 28 January 2018. Edit this at Wikidata
  2. ^ Butler, S., ed. (2009). "Port Campbell". Macquarie Dictionary (5th ed.). Sydney: Macquarie Dictionary Publishers Pty Ltd. 1952 pages. ISBN 978-1-876429-66-9.
  3. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Port Campbell (State Suburb)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 28 January 2018. Edit this at Wikidata
  4. ^ "PORT CAMPBELL". Camperdown Chronicle. Vol. VII, no. 651. Victoria, Australia. 24 December 1880. p. 3. Retrieved 23 January 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ Phoenix Auctions History, Post Office List, retrieved 3 April 2021
  6. ^ "Port Campbell". Visit Victoria. Tourism Victoria. Retrieved 5 December 2013.

Media related to Port Campbell, Victoria at Wikimedia Commons

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