Shepparton
Shepparton is a regional city located on the floodplain of the Goulburn River in northern Victoria, Australia, approximately north-northeast of Melbourne. As of the 2021 census, the locality of Shepparton had a population of 32,067. The broader urban area, including the adjacent town of Mooroopna, had a combined population of 49,862.
It began as a sheep station and river crossing in the mid-19th century, before undergoing a major transformation as a railway town. Today it is an agricultural and manufacturing centre, and the centre of the Goulburn Valley irrigation system, one of the largest centres of irrigation in Australia. It is also a major regional service city and the seat of local government and civic administration for the City of Greater Shepparton, which includes the surrounding towns of Tatura, Merrigum, Mooroopna, Murchison, Dookie, Toolamba and Grahamvale.
Toponymy
The name of Shepparton is derived from the surname of one of the area's first European settlers, Sherbourne Sheppard, and not, as is sometimes imagined, from Shepperton, England.The Yorta Yorta name for the area is 'Kanny-goopna' with 'goopna' meaning 'deep waterholes by which people camped'. Conversely, the name for the big waterhole at the Broken River at Benalla is 'Marangan', meaning deep pond or lagoon in Taungurung Eastern Kulin language.
Colloquially, the city is also known as "Shepp", as adopted by community entities that incorporate the abbreviated form into their name, e.g., the Shepparton Agricultural Society, or "Sheppshow".
History
Prior to the European settlement of Australia, the area was inhabited by the Yorta Yorta, the indigenous Australian people whose country covers the junction of the Goulburn and Murray Rivers in present-day northern Victoria and southern New South Wales. The town of Shepparton and surrounds are on the country of the Kailtheban clan of the .Surveyor General Thomas Mitchell was the first European to be recorded traveling through the area, crossing the Goulburn River in 1836 on his return to Sydney from an expedition to survey the Darling River and its tributaries. On Mitchell's recommendation, Joseph Hawdon and Charles Bonney would follow two years later, camping on the town site by the Goulburn River in 1838 while droving cattle from Albury to Adelaide.
The first permanent settlement in the area was the "Tallygaroopna" sheep station, established in the early 1840s. By 1843 the station was being run by a man named Sherbourne Sheppard, the town's eventual namesake. With the advent of the Victorian gold rush in the 1850s, the area became a popular river crossing point for miners travelling east from the Bendigo and Ballarat goldfields. As there was no bridge across the Goulburn River, Irish entrepreneur Patrick Macguire set up a punt service to ferry travellers across the river, erecting the town's first building in the process, the punt house. Macguire sold the building to John Hill in 1853, who converted it into a hotel, the Emu Bush Inn. This settlement soon became known as Macguire's Punt, a name it would keep into the 1870s. A post office opened in February 1854, but closed in July that same year.
The settlement was first surveyed in 1855 by Assistant Surveyor J.G.W. Wilmot. By this time, in addition to Macguire's Punt, it had also become known as Sheppard town, Sheppardton, and Shepparton. The post office reopened in May 1858, and two years later the Governor of Victoria officially declared Shepparton a township on 24 September 1860. It remained a small settlement of a half-dozen buildings into the 1870s despite adding a police station, a general store, a blacksmith, a foundry, and a public hall which remains the city's oldest building. Shepparton's first bridge over the Goulburn River was completed in 1878 and named Dainton's Bridge after James Henry Dainton, the bridge's chief engineer. The first church, St. Patrick's, opened in 1879.
The railway from Seymour reached the town in 1880. A mechanics institute opened between 1880 and 1888 as Shepparton rapidly developed into a major manufacturing and service centre.
During the Victorian railway boom the railways expanded, and by the turn of the century Shepparton was central to a large network of regional branch lines on the Toolamba–Echuca railway line — lines leading to Cobram, Nathalia, Dookie, Picola and Katamatite. Rail-served industries helped Shepparton grow into a city. While these lines experienced a brief boom, almost all of them would later close. The Goulburn River also developed as a secondary transport hub, with paddle steamers and ferries operating at The Barges.
In the post-war era the city's population virtually tripled, with immigration to the city becoming a major factor, particularly of Mediterranean origin including new residents from Italy, Greece, Albania, Yugoslavia and Macedonia. Post war the city's built environment also went through rapid change, with many of the old buildings being replaced with modern ones. One of the last significant pre-war buildings, the post office was modernised during this period before being demolished for the construction of a concrete building in 1973. Prior to its demolition the much loved landmark was originally planned to be rebuilt in another location as part of the development of an International Village however the proposal fell through. Since the 2000s there was renewed interest in rebuilding the lost landmark as a Local Heritage Museum.
Geography
Climate
Shepparton has a cool semi-arid climate bordering upon a humid subtropical climate, with hot, sunny summers and cool, cloudy winters. The hottest summer month is January, when the average maximum temperature is. In winter, the weather becomes coldest in July when the minimum averages and the maximum gets to. On 7 February 2009, a maximum of was recorded in the city.Although the rainfall in Shepparton is fairly sparse, winter sees the most rain days. Rainfall is quite low throughout the year. Even with the wettest month being in November, the rainfall still averages at. The driest month in terms of rainfall is January, which receives an average of.
The average wind speed in Shepparton is.
Urban structure
Central business district
The Maude Street Mall is the city's main shopping centre, while Wyndham Street is the main civic and commercial street. Located off the Maude Street Mall is a tall communications tower, erected 1967–68, with an observation deck at accessible via a 160-step stairway. The observation deck offers views over the city and surrounding countryside.Suburbs
Shepparton has three nearby towns which could be considered suburbs. They are Mooroopna to the west, Kialla to the south, and Shepparton East to the east. Nearby, in the northeast, also lies the locality of Grahamvale.Economy
Shepparton's main industries are agriculture and associated manufacturing. Australia's largest processor of canned fruits, SPC Australia, has a production facility in Shepparton. Seasonal fruits, such as peaches, pears and apricots are preserved into a variety of packaging.The manufacturing industry has evolved to cater for the needs of local primary producers.
Other major manufacturers in the city include Campbells Soup Company, Rubicon Water, Pental, Civilmart and Visy.
Shepparton is a major regional commercial and shopping centre and service economy for the Greater Shepparton area. Major retailers in Shepparton include Target, Kmart, Harris Scarfe, Bunnings, Rebel, The Reject Shop, Repco, Supercheap Auto, Autobarn and Dimmeys.
Shepparton is a major centre for infrastructure and civic services. The majority of the region's emergency response facilities are located there. The administrative headquarters for Country Fire Authority District 22 and one of only two Independent Rescue Agencies in Victoria are located in Shepparton. The Search and Rescue Squad originally started out as a "Dive and Recovery Unit" recovering lost property and persons from the rivers, lakes and water ways in the region.
Arts and culture
The city hosts the Moooving Art project, which involves local artists painting fibreglass cows, which are then displayed in tourist locations throughout the city and surrounding townships. The project is an artistic representation of the strong dairy industry prevalent in the Shepparton area.Kidstown is located between Shepparton and Mooroopna; it has two giant slides, a flying fox and a train that goes right around the playground.
The city is home to a large swimming centre called Aquamoves, two performing arts centres, one in Mooroopna named WestSide, due to its geographical location and the other the Eastbank Centre located in Shepparton. Collectively the centres are called Riverlinks Venues.
Shepparton is also home of the Shepparton Art Museum, more commonly known as SAM. SAM houses the world's most significant collection of Australian ceramics, and is home to the biennial Sidney Myer Fund Australian Ceramic Award and the Indigenous Ceramic Art Award. The museum features the surrealist sculpture Woman and Child by artist Sam Jinks.
Since 1997 Shepparton Festival - a combined professional and community arts festival - has presented live music, performing arts, and visual arts to Greater Shepparton. The festival is one of the most significant festivals in the region. It hosts art works by established artistic companies as well as independent acts, offers a wide variety of free family-friendly events, and presents work in both traditional arts venues and unconventional settings. In July 2022 the festival announced artist Kristen Retallick as the new Festival Director.
Shepparton is also home to the Shepparton Theatre Arts Group, the city's premier theatrical group. STAG was formed in 1975 after an amalgamation between the Shepparton Dramatic Society and the Shepparton Light Music Company. The group presents one dramatic/comedic play, one musical and one rock revue each year. The Goulburn Valley Concert Orchestra, a community symphony orchestra, gives an annual major concert and a series of cafe concerts every year.