Quambatook

Quambatook
Town
Guthrie St, the main street of Quambatook
Quambatook
Coordinates: 35°51′0″S143°32′0″E / 35.85000°S 143.53333°E / -35.85000; 143.53333
Country	Australia
State	Victoria
LGA	Shire of Gannawarra
Location	302 km (188 mi) NW of Melbourne 162 km (101 mi) NW of Bendigo 60 km (37 mi) S of Swan Hill
Government
• State electorate	Murray Plains
• Federal division	Mallee
Population
• Total	229 (2021 census)[2]
Postcode	3540

Quambatook/ˈkwɒmbətʊk/ is a town in the Shire of Gannawarra, Victoria, Australia, 302 kilometres (188 mi) from the state capital, Melbourne. Quambatook is located on the Avoca River. At the 2021 census, Quambatook had a population of 229, a decline from 249 at the 2016 census.^[3][2]

History

Quambatook was settled following the end of the Victorian gold rush of the 1850s. Resumption of large squatter's land holdings for closer settlement in the 1870s led to Quambatook becoming one of Victoria's leading wheat and sheep producing areas.^[4] Quambatook Post Office opened on 1 September 1879.^[5]

Quambatook has been recognised as the tractor pulling capital of Australia with an annual competition, the Australian Tractor Pulling Championships, held at Easter since 1976.^[6] In fact, the town's motto is 'Land of wheat and wool, home of the tractor pull'. The town is where country music performer John Williamson grew up. Williamson has written a musical named for the town.^[4][7]

Golfers play at the course of the Quambatook Golf Club on Boort Road.^[8]

The primary school closed in 2017 after no applications to teach the six remaining students were received.^[9]

After over a century, Quambatook Football Club was dissolved following the 2022 season of the Golden Rivers Football League.^[10]

Gallery

• 
  War memorial
• 
  Post office
• 
  Guthrie St
• 
  Avoca River and River St
• 
  General store

See also

• Quambatook (musical)

References

1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Quambatook (suburb and locality)". Australian Census 2021 QuickStats. Retrieved 28 June 2022. 
2. Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Quambatook (State Suburb)". 2021 Census QuickStats.
3. "2016 Census QuickStats Quambatook". Australian Bureau of Statistics. Archived from the original on 6 March 2019. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
4. "Towns in Gannawarra". Gannawarra Shire Council. Archived from the original on 14 June 2007. Retrieved 4 June 2007.
5. Phoenix Auctions History. "Post Office List". Retrieved 24 March 2021.
6. "Quambatook Victoria". Travelmate. Archived from the original on 22 August 2011. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
7. "QUAMBATOOK is a family musical". johnwilliamson.com.au. Archived from the original on 4 November 2007. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
8. Golf Select. "Quambatook". Retrieved 11 May 2009.
9. Kearney, Mark (2 March 2017). "Quambatook Group School to close despite more than 50 expressions of interest in principal job". Bendigo Advertiser. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
10. Darling, Alexander (1 May 2022). "Quambatook will lose its football-netball clubs this year. Here's how the town plans to survive". ABC News. Retrieved 21 June 2025.

External links

Media related to Quambatook at Wikimedia Commons