Grassy, king island Grassy is a former mining township on the south east coast of King Island in Bass Strait. The name is descriptive of the place. Grassy has attractive forest and farm land around it, in contrast to the undulating grassland on the sandy west side of King Island. In 1911 a prospector found a mineral specimen which he thought contained tin but which was scheelite, a tungstate of calcium. The King Island Scheelite Development Company NL began treating ore in 1917, and continued for three years. The mine was revived in 1937, and open-cut mining supplied tungsten for hardened steel during the second World War and the postwar years. Overburden from the mine was used to construct a breakwater for the Grassy Harbour, develop port facilities and to widen the shoreline beyond the mine. The scheelite industry is ruled by world export prices and in 1990 falling prices resulted in the closure of the mine. The town was evacuated of most of its population. Several houses were removed to other population centres, some became derelict and a small population resided in the rest. The mine site was rehabilitated and open cut mine was allowed to fill with water. Grassy Harbour continues to be used today as it can take cargo vessels and it is the major freight port for the island. There is a very active Grassy Boat Club at Grassy Harbour where the successful competitive teams train from and the harbour is the destination in the Annual Queenscliff to Grassy yacht race. A company town was developed away, up on the hill above the mine site to provide accommodation and facilities for the mine workers and their families and the other islanders from Currie (approx 32 kms away) etc. In 1966 it had 135 company provided residences, a hall,a picture theatre, sports facilities such as a heated swimming pool, squash courts, tennis and basketball courts, footy oval, a golf course and a licenced workmen’s club, for a Grassy population of 540, of whom 170 were employed by the company. Water was reticulated from two reservoirs on the Grassy River. A school was provided, which had one hundred pupils in 1966. Grassy had it's own police station, Pharmasists, CFA, several service stations and supermarkets, a butcher, a bakery and cafes etc, all that the mining workers and their families needed for their community and social interaction. Since the mine closure in 1990, the town has been purchased by a group of investors , subdivided and the majority has been privately sold to the current residents and others as holiday houses. Ballarat and Clarendon College have for over 10 years had a residential campus in Grassy catering for 30-40 students each school term and their teachers (some of whom reside in Grassy permanently). In recent years the population has continued to grow with the influx of people coming to enjoy the peace, friendliness, ambiance and safety of the town. Retirees, Sea Changers, Island Residents and Young Families come to Grassy to live and a growing number of visitors and tourists coming to stay at the King Island Holiday Village and Portside Links Art Gallery and B & B(near the harbour) and to see the views of the sea and the natural Fairy Penguin rookeries . The visitors are particularly intrigued with the nightly influx of wallabies into the town and the other wildlife ie; echidnas, platypus etc which are often seen nearby. The Grassy Club and Grassy Supermarket/Community Postal Agency continue to service the local community as do EJ Motors, King's Cuisine and Wild Harvest Restaurants, Maries Corner store, a Laundromat and Kelp Craft shop. Grassy Post Office first opened on 11 March 1918, closed in 1991. The town has since been serviced by a Community Postal Agency which is located at the Grassy Supermarket in the main street.

Grassy’s census populations have been 87 (1921), 352 (1947), 767 (1971), 253 (1986) and 139 (2016) in 65 dwellings. HomeSales.com.au quote the current population (2018) as 279. Further Reading: Edgecombe, Jean, “Discovering King Island, Western Bass Strait,” the author, 1993. Hooper, R.H., “The King Island Story”, Peko-Wallsend Ltd., 1973. “King Island Scheelite Mine, Grassy, King Island, Tasmania 1937-1966”, King Island Scheelite (1947)