Westerway, Tasmania

Westerway is a small town in southern Tasmania, Australia 68 kilometres (42 mi) west of Hobart on the Tyenna River. The Gordon River Road from New Norfolk to Strathgordon passes through it. It is in the Federal electorate Division of Lyons and is in the Derwent Valley Council local government area. At the 2006 census, Westerway and the surrounding area had a population of 156.[1]

Westerway
Tasmania
Westerway
Coordinates42°41′S 146°47′E
Population156 (2006 census)[1]
Postcode(s)7140
Location
  • 65 km (40 mi) NW of Hobart
  • 30 km (19 mi) NW of New Norfolk
  • 20 km (12 mi) NE of Maydena
LGA(s)Derwent Valley Council
State electorate(s)Lyons
Federal Division(s)Lyons

History

Westerway was originally known as Russell or Russelldale and was named after Surgeon J J Russell, one of the party who discovered a set of waterfalls 3 km from Fenton Forest (these are not the present day Russell Falls). The Derwent Valley Railway line reached the town in 1909. Russell Post Office opened on 1 October 1910 and was renamed Westerway in 1919.[2]

Due to confusion between the town of Russell and Russell Falls further up the road, the town's name was changed in 1919 to Westerway. It was named by, and after, W H Westerway (1851–1930), the main resident of the town who was responsible for many developments in the area. He built an accommodation house and store where Coniston siding is now, owned the Coffee Palace at Glenora and started a livery business driving tourists to Russell Falls.

Westerway School opened in 1920 with thirty six students. From 1920 to 1960 there was a bakery and, from 1947 to 1970, a police station. At the time of the 1934 bushfires, the original Westerway Hall became a temporary hospital and in 1939 a recruitment office for enlistees. That hall was pulled down and rebuilt in 1940. The present hall replaced the 1940 hall after it burnt down.

Westerway railway station was important as it was the starting point for the pack horse journey to the long abandoned Adamsfield osmiridium mine. As the timber industry became more important to the area, a sawmill was built and the number of timber mills in the area increased and the train line was used to transport logs to Boyer and Hobart. The Derwent Valley Railway was, until recently, used by tourists to visit the area.

References
  1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). "Westerway (State Suburb)". 2006 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 17 November 2007.
  2. Premier Postal History. "Post Office List". Premier Postal Auctions. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
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