Vorlage:TasmanianTowns WestCoast Queenstown is a town on the West Coast of the island of Tasmania, Australia. It had a population of 2,200 people as of 2003.
History
Historically it was a mining town. The mountainous area was first explored in 1862. It was long after that when alluvial gold was discovered at Mount Lyell, prompting the formation of the Mount Lyell Gold Mining Company in 1881. In 1892, the mine began searching for copper. The final name of the Mt Lyell company was the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company.
In the 1900s, Queenstown was the centre of the Mount Lyell mining district and had numerous smelting works, brick-works, and sawmills. The area at the time was finely wooded. The population in 1900 was 5051; the district, 10,451.
The town was the base of the Queenstown council up until amalgamation with other west coast councils in the 1990's. The town in its heyday had a collection of hotels, churches and schools that have all significantly reduced since the demise of the Mt Lyell company.
For a brief period in the 1980's during the building of dams by the Hydro (to compensate for the loss of the Lower Gordon scheme due to the No Dams campaign) there was a reprieve for the town. However since then businesses have closed down and facilities reduced.
Ecology
The mountains surrounding Queenstown have unusual pink and grey hues that come from the conglomerate rocks on the two most adjacent mountains - Mount Lyell and Mount Owen.
Due to a combination of tree removal for use in the smelters, the smelter fumes (for about 50 years), and the heavy annual rainfall, the erosion of the shallow horizon topsoil back to the harder rock profile has contributed to the current stark state of the mountains.
Typical of the successions that occur in fire affected areas in Western Tasmania, the low shrubbery that has revegetated adjacent to hillside creeks is an early stage of recovery for the ecology of the region.
Some concern by local residents in the 1980's and since, that the low level succession of plants might affect the stark 'moonscape' appearance of the southern parts of Mount Lyell, and northern Mount Owen are unfounded, as there are still large areas incapable of sustaining regrowth due to the acute slopes and lack of soil formation.
Current conditions
Today, the town and district attracts significant numbers of tourists, on either organised tours or the hire car 'circuit' around Tasmania. Some features continue to fascinate tourists, either the mountains, the slag heap or the solid rock footbal ground. There are significant opportunities to catch glimpses of the towns past at the local museum, and simply by driving up Orr Street, the old main street now with closed pubs and the dominant Post Office tower.
Although the mining operation at the original Mount Lyell mine continues, it is at a much reduced rate. Exploration continues within the West Coast region for further economic mineral deposits, and due to the complexity of the geology, there is no doubt that new mines will happen in time. The Henty River Gold mine is a good example of this.
Queenstown is the home of the West Coast Wilderness Railway, which travels southwards alongside the Queen River, and then along the northern slopes of the King River to the port of Strahan in Macquarie Harbour.
External links
References
- Blainey, G., The Peaks of Lyell (1959), ASIN B0007K71NM