| Maitland, New South Wales |
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With an approximate 60.000 Inhabitants , spread over an Area of 396 Km&2 , although the main built up area predominantly forms a strip between the Suburb s of Rutherford and Metford respectively. The key Demographic characteristics of the Maitland Local Government Area (LGA) are considered to have remained consistent over the last ABS Census period ( 1996 - 2001 ) and are summarised as follows:
The main religion is the Anglican Church Of Australia , and Roman Catholic Churches. The minority ethnic population is relatively low compared with other parts of the state of New South Wales . Surrounding areas include the cities of Cessnock and Singleton LGAs. CULTURE AND HISTORY Maitland is a city steeped in Australian History. Founded in 1820 it was the head of navigation on the Hunter River and until the railway was constructed from Newcastle it was the point at which goods were unloaded for the hinterland. Accordingly there were large warehouses (Some of which still exist) built that faced onto the main High St and backed onto the Hunter River . For almost 20 years till the gold rushes in Victoria Maitland was the second largest town in Australia. Originally three separate towns -West Maitland ( a privately founded town which grew because of its closeness to the river and which today is the commercial centre of the city), East Maitland (established by the colonial government) and Morpeth (also a private town founded by Lt Close a Peninsular War veteran) each of which were separate municipalities the present city was proclaimed in 1945 with the amalgamation of the three local government areas. The city's boundaries have been increased by incorporating parts of other local government areas since then (most notably Kearsley Shire which from 1946 to 1949 was the only local government area in Australia's history to have a Communist majority of councillors). Floods West Maitlands proximity to the Hunter River has resulted in a succession of floods the first known to Europeans was in 1806 and is believed to be the biggest known though as there was no settlement in Maitland at the time there are no accurate records but there are stories of gumtrees (which grow to over 80 feet high) where Maitland Railway station ( a distance of about 1 km from the Hunter River) is now being submerged. In the next flood which occurred in 1820 settlers described driftwood being found in trees 62 foot above the normal river level. There were a succession of minor floods (some of which caused loss of life and all of which had some effect on West Maitland in its early settlement) until 1893 which was the first big flood of which there are proper records and where the cause can be properly identified (inland rain – places like Cassillis were flooded and very heavy falls locally eg Maitland had 11” in 9 hours Morpeth 24” in a day). The backwater flow of water banked up in the creeks that flow into the Hunter River over the levy banks surrounding the town and back into the river sweeping away houses in Louth Park (a southern suburb) and in Victoria St (which runs from the railway station to the West Maitland Town Hall). 9 people died. One farmer found one of his horses safe on the top of the Maitland Park grandstand. After a long drought which affected all of Australia between 1895 and 1910 the next flood was in 1913 when houses in Mt Pleasant St and in Horseshoe Bend were destroyed. Some other floods followed in 1927 (this affected severely affected Wollombi a town to the south of Maitland (records show only the church steeple and the hotel roof above water) and was caused by freak rain and in 1930 and 1931 Then there was a succession of floods after years of exteme drought (the Hunter was dry for 20 mile in places). The first was in 1949 when heavy rain produced a major flood in days. The flood covered the lower end of High St, the next in June 1950 which was really 3 floods (there were 3 separate peaks) in 12 days in which 600 homes flooded and people evacuated and then floods struck again in 1951 and 1952 (which again was really 2 floods, there was a total greater volume than in the 1955 flood) The final serious flood and the largest since the foundation of the town was in 1955 in which the commercial district was largely flooded, over 100 houses destroyed, the railways between Sydney and Brisbane and Sydney and the North West of New South Wales which meet at Maitland were cut for a week and from which the town took many years to recover. As a result of the flood the dykes protecting the town were considerably enlarged and strengthened. SUBURBS Rutherford Telerah Aberglassyn Gilleston Heights East Maitland Lochinvar Farley Windella Downs Oakampton Oakampton Heights Bolwarra Metford Tenambit Morpeth Louth Park Dagworth Lorn Windermere Anambah Hinton Thornton Greenhills Mount Vincent Luskintyre Melville Harpers Hill Festivals Hunter Valley Steamfest is an annual festival celebrating the history of steam power. It was established in 1985 in response to the closure of the extensive South Maitland Railway Line/network to Cessnock , the last coal operating steam haulage freight service in Australia. The Morpeth Jazz Festival is an annual music festival held at the popular historic riverside port of Morpeth. It is a celebration of jazz, fine wine and great food. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS |
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