Ararat, Victoria

Prior to the European settlement of Australia, Ararat was inhabited by the Djab wurrung group of Aboriginal Australian people. The area encompassing Ararat has many Djabwurrung language placenames; 'Karangajaruk' refers to 'the valley in which Cathcart and the Ararat (gold) diggings lie', 'Warrayatkin' refers to Green Hill Lake, 'Butingitch' refers to the Ararat town site, 'Gorambeep barak' refers to Mount Ararat, and 'Pandort' refers to a large waterhole to the south. One month later the Gold Warden relocated to the current town. Until 1859 the local courts were the Canton Lead Court of Petty Sessions. Gold in & around Ararat Alluvial gold was first discovered in the Ararat area in May 1854 at Pinky Point on the Denicull Creek. (A memorial can be found on the corner of the Ararat - Halls Gap Road (C222) and Better Route Road 5 km west of Ararat. Pinky Point is to the north.) By June that year 30 claims were being worked by 200 men across what was first called the Mt William field. By 1864, most of the 1,500 miners were reworking the known leads with puddling machines, sluices and Long Toms. Returns were diminishing and the 1865–1866 drought brought this phase of full-time gold mining to an end. The rapid growth generated by gold brought about a municipality, which was incorporated as a borough on 24 September 1858. In the aftermath of the goldrush, Ararat soon became known for its asylum. The Aradale Mental Hospital opened in 1865 with the former the Ararat County Gaol converted in 1887 to J Ward, a psychiatric facility for the criminally insane. The Hospital remained open as a treatment facility until 1997 and has since become the site for paranormal and haunted house tours. Vines were planted in 1863 by Swiss settlers, the Pola family. ==Traditional ownership claims==

The formally recognised traditional owners for the area in which Ararat sits, north-west of Campbell Street and the Pyrenees Highway and north-east of the Western Highway and Lambert Street are the Wotjobaluk, Jardwadjali (also known as Jaadwa), Wergaia and Jupagalk nations. These nations are represented by the Barengi Gadjin Land Council Aboriginal Corporation. The formally recognised traditional owners for the area in which Ararat sits, south-east of Campbell Street and the Pyrenees Highway are the Djab Wurrung people. In the area of Ararat that is south-west of the Western Highway and Lambert Street, traditional owners have not yet been formally recognised. However, the Eastern Maar people are negotiating a recognition and settlement agreement with the Victorian Government. The boundary of the agreement is under negotiation. ==Economy==

Ararat's economy is driven by primary industries of the region including wool, beef and the Grampians Wine Region. The region has a number of wind farms including the 240 MW Ararat Wind Farm and the 52 MW Challicum Hills Wind Farm which produce large amounts of renewable energy to the National Electricity Market, and a 250MVA synchronous condenser is being built to stabilize the grid. It is also home to AF Gason Pty Ltd one of Australia's largest manufacturers of farm machinery and wood heating. The city also has a significant service economy with health, community services and is a regional commerce centre. Hopkins Correctional Centre, formerly known as H.M. Prison Ararat, is located on the town's eastern outskirts. Servicing visitors to the Grampians National Park and the local wine industry, tourism is a relatively small but significant industry in Ararat, employing 150 people and generating around $8 million to the economy, however its impact on the surrounding region is significant with tourists spending $270 million annually. Key tourist attractions include the Ararat Regional Art Gallery, Mount Langi Ghiran winery, tours through Aradale (Australia's largest abandoned 1800s lunatic asylum) and the Gum San Chinese Heritage Centre. ==Geography==

Ararat is nestled between several mountain ranges, including the Grampians National Park, Mount Langi Ghiran, Mount Cole, Mount Buangor, Ararat Hills Regional Park and the Pyrenees Ranges. Cemetery Creek, the valley's main catchment runs through the north of the town while Green Hill lake is on the city's eastern fringe. Climate Ararat has a temperate Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csb), with warm summers that are frequently interrupted by cold fronts; and cool, usually rainy, winters. }} ==Demographics==

As of the 2021 census, Ararat City has a population of 7,015 with 1831 families total. The Ararat Local Government Area has a population of 11,880 with 2,973 families total. 88% of people in Ararat were born in Australia. 62% of people in Ararat identify as Christian. Anglican and Catholic faiths are evenly represented with 18% of people identifying with each. ==Governance==

The city is the location of the municipal offices and seat of government for the Rural City of Ararat local government area. Ararat is represented by the federal Division of Wannon. For law enforcement, Ararat has a single police station as well as a magistrates court and a children's court all located on Barkly Street. ==Education==

Ararat has four primary schools — Ararat Primary (colloquially known as "Ararat 800" by locals); Ararat West Primary; Ararat North Primary and St Mary's Catholic Primary School. In addition there are several kindergartens in the city. There are two main secondary colleges, Ararat College and Marian College, the latter of which is a Catholic secondary school. Ararat has regional campuses of the Federation University Australia (formerly the University of Ballarat) and Melbourne Polytechnic (formerly the Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE). == Culture ==

Art Ararat's National Trust listed former town hall with its elaborate clock tower, designed by Molloy and Smith and built in 1899, is now home to the Ararat Regional Art Gallery, and the Ararat Performing Arts Centre for the city. Sport Australian rules football is a popular sport in Ararat. The Ararat Football Club (formed in 1871) was a founding club of the Wimmera Football League and continues to compete with its most recent premiership in 2023. A second club, the Ararat Eagles Football Club was formed more recently in 2000 to play in the Lexton Plains Football League, but now play in the Mininera & District Football League. Like many country football clubs, Ararat's clubs offer netball as a popular sport for women in Ararat, with the Ararat Rats representing the city in the Wimmera Netball Association. The horse racing club, the Wimmera Racing Club, schedules around five race meetings a year at Ararat including the Ararat Cup meeting in November. Ararat Harness Racing Club conducts regular meetings at its racetrack in the town. Golfers play at the Aradale Golf Club on Grano Street or at the course of the Chalambar Golf Club on Golf Links Road. Motocross has become a popular sport in the area, and the Ararat Motorcycle Club regularly holds events up to state level. Ararat is also home to the Grampians Soaring Club, a recreational gliding club that supports "Yes Girls Glide" and has a successful juniors program. Association football is played at junior level, with the Ararat and Grampians YMCA school competition from years 8–12. Festivals The city's main community festival is known as the Golden Gateway Festival and has run since 1958 when it was set up to commemorate the city's centenary. In popular culture Two Royal Australian Navy ships have been named after this town. , a Bathurst-class corvette, and , an Armidale-class patrol boat. In 2014 Ararat residents appeared in the Channel 10 hit show The Biggest Loser. Ararat was the setting for the 2008 film Lake Mungo. Attractions Popular tourist destinations include the Gum San Chinese Heritage Centre, Aradale Lunatic Asylum Tours, Langi Morgala Museum, The Astor Cinema, and J Ward. Guests can attend a day time history tour of J Ward or be incarcerated for an evening on the J Ward Ghost Tour. Gold era buildings Several buildings survive from the first decade of the Ararat gold rush including the bluestone Sub-Treasury & Assay Office, the neighbouring Telegraph & Post Office and the brick Court House on Barkly Street. All sit on the Police Camp block, which was bounded by Barkly, Ligar, High and Ingor Streets. Sub-Treasury & Assay Office 1858 Sub-Treasuries were established at major gold fields from the late 1850s onwards by the Victorian Government to receive and hold the gold recovered from the diggings. There were Sub-Treasuries at Ballarat, Castlemaine, Beechworth, Sandhurst [Bendigo], Maryborough and Ararat. Several survive. The Sub-Treasury building in Beechworth (1856) which was repurposed as the in the 1880s as the Police Station is one.[https://www.dcceew.gov.au/parks-heritage/heritage/places/national/beechworth-administrative-precinct The main (Old) Treasury Building in Melbourne was completed in 1862. The Ararat Sub-Treasury & Assay Office (1858) was the sixth to be opened. The value of the gold received by the Ararat Sub-Treasury in that year was £29,820 7sh 2d with a value in the 2020s in the order of $15m. (The Victoria Heritage Database records the 1993 relocation to Ballarat of the wooden flat-pack building (1857) used by the Ararat Gold Warden and originally located in Campbell Street, Ararat.) Telegraph & Post Office 1861 The Telegraph & Post Office (1861), is one of the oldest surviving Post Office buildings in Victoria. Following completion of the building, the Telegraph Office moved in. The town had been linked by telegraph since1858 when the line was extended from Ballarat via a Post Office that was variously called Raglan, Firey Creek, or Beaufort. The telegraph went live on Thursday 11 November 1858. Reporting the first communication on the line, a journalist wrote ‘Now through the click click, of the small mysterious brass apparatus we find ourselves within a minute of Melbourne’. 1876, the Post Office incorporated the Sub-Treasury Building. In April 1888 the Mayor asked the Postmaster General to provide the building with a clock, which was added in 1889. Court House 1866 - 1867 In the 1850s the jurisdiction of the Ararat Courts expanded rapidly. In 1857 the Court of Petty Sessions, County Court and Gold Fields Local Court District all sat in Ararat. In 1859 was added the Court of Mines and a General Sessions District that could consider criminal cases. These Courts sat in a bluestone building on the corner of High and Vincent Streets that is now the site of the municipal offices. By the time the current building was completed the Ararat Courts had been included in the Supreme Court Circuit. Today the Courthouse is used for Magistrates’ and Children’s Court sittings. The distinctive building with its two-colour brickwork is in the Free Classical style as are other court houses of the time including the old Court House in Beaufort. == Infrastructure ==

Transport The main form of transport is road transport and motor vehicles. According to the 2006 Census, 88% of people traveled to work by motor vehicle, the vast majority of which traveled by automobile. Ararat is situated at the junction of several main roads including the Western Highway via High Street (running eastward to Ballarat and Melbourne and westward to Horsham and Adelaide); the Pyrenees Highway via Vincent Street (running east to Avoca and Maryborough); Ararat-Pomonal Road via Barkly Street (westward towards Halls Gap) and the Mortlake-Ararat Road via Vincent Street (running south with connections to the west and Hamilton, south and Warrnambool and to the east and Geelong). Ararat's urban area streets are laid out in grid plan. Roads are also important for public transport. Ararat Transit provides 120 bus services on three routes 6 days a week, connecting with train services. According to the 2006 Census, just 4 persons in Ararat traveled to work by bus. Olivers Gully and Copes Hill reservoirs provide additional water storage. ==Notable people==

• Rob Borbidgepolitician, 35th Premier of Queensland • Shane KellyOlympic cyclist and silver and bronze medallist • Rene KinkAustralian Rules footballer • Neil MurrayArarat-born, Lake Bolac-raised singer-songwriter • Air Chief Marshal Sir Frederick Schergerborn in Ararat on 18 May 1904 • James Scobie (1860–1940)jockey and racehorse trainer, was born in or near Ararat • Geoff Toddartist • Barry Traynor a former politician and police officer • Ella WoodAustralian Women's Rules footballer ==See also==