Port Fairy, Victoria
Encyclopedia : P : PO : POR : Port Fairy, Victoria
Port Fairy is a coastal town in Victoria, Australia, located on the Princes Highway, 28 kilometres west of the Warrnambool, 290 kilometres west of Melbourne. Port Fairy is in the Moyne Shire. The Moyne River empties into the Southern Ocean at Port Fairy. The town has an approximate population of 2,700.
The area was initially inhabited by the Knarn Kolak Aborigines. In the early nineteenth century the area was used by whalers and seal hunters. By the 1920s the area was known as Port Fairy, believed to be named after Captain James Wishart's cutter The Fairy. By 1835 a whaling station had been established on what is now Griffith's Island. Bluestone cottages built by whalers and sealers of the time are still standing around the town. A general store was opened in 1839. In 1843, James Atkinson, a Sydney solicitor, purchased land in the town. He drained the swamps, subdivided and leased the land, and built a harbour on the Moyne River. He renamed the town 'Belfast' after his hometown in Ireland.
Agriculture developed in the region, and Port Fairy became an important transport hub. By 1857 the town had a population of 2,190. In the mid to late nineteenth century, Port Fairy was one of Australia's largest ports, catering to the whaling industry. In 1887 the town was renamed Port Fairy, as a result of an act of parliament.
Today, the town's primary industries are tourism and fishing, and it contains one of Victoria's largest fishing fleets. The town contains 50 buildings protected by the National Trust of Australia. The Port Fairy Folk Festival is held in March each year. The area is also a breeding ground for mutton birds.
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