- Bethanga, Victoria
Infobox Australian Place | type = town
name = Bethanga
state = vic
caption =
lga = Shire of Towong
postcode = 3691
est =
pop = 193
elevation=
maxtemp =
mintemp =
rainfall =
stategov = Benambra
fedgov = Indi
dist1 = 390
dir1 = NE
location1=Melbourne
dist2 = 27
dir2 = E
location2= Wodonga
dist3 = 31
dir3 = N
location3= Tallangatta
dist4 = 9
dir4 = SE
location4= BellbridgeBethanga is a town in north eastern Victoria,
Australia . The town is located in theShire of Towong Local Government Area, convert|390|km|mi|0|lk=on from the state capital,Melbourne . At the 2001 census, Bethanga had a population of 193.Census 2001 AUS
id = UCL204900
name = Bethanga (L) (Urban Centre/Locality)
quick = on
accessdate = 2007-06-17]History
Bethanga was established as a result of the discovery of gold.
Gold was first reported in the Bethanga area in 1852, but it was not until 1876 that the discovery of areef led to the development of the Bethanga goldfields. The Post Office opened on 22 July 1876, was renamed Granya in 1879 when a new office named Bethanga opened nearby which closed in 1952. The Bethanga Lower office was renamed Bethanga in 1984. Citation
last = Premier Postal History | title = Post Office List | url = https://www.premierpostal.com/cgi-bin/wsProd.sh/Viewpocdwrapper.p?SortBy=VIC&country= | accessdate = 2008-04-11 ]Due to the nature of the gold bearing quartz reef, the gold was difficult to extract and the discovery of
copper led to a change in focus. It was not until the early 1890s that an efficient technique for extracting the gold from the ore was discovered, and once again gold became the primary focus, with copper a by-product. Bethanga was removed from the list of goldfields in 1912, however some mining activity has taken place since.cite web
url = http://www.heritage.vic.gov.au/pages/pdfs/Bethanga.pdf
title = Bethanga Goldfield
format = PDF
publisher = Heritage Victoria
accessdate = 2007-06-17]The Town today
The town is located close to
Lake Hume , attracting both retired people and commuters to nearbyAlbury-Wodonga . Facilities in Bethanga include a general store, primary school and three churches.cite web
url = http://www.towong.vic.gov.au/Page/Page.asp?Page_Id=104&h=1
title = Bethanga
publisher = Towong Shire Council
accessdate = 2007-06-17]References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
