Charlton "The Friendly River Town", is a town in Victoria, Australia. It is a small agricultural community straddling the Avoca River, located at the junction of the Calder Highway (A79) and Borung Highway (C239) and positioned in the last of the foothills of the Great Dividing Range. Its location, almost halfway between Melbourne and Mildura, makes Charlton a popular stop along the way for tourists.
History
The original inhabitants of the region were the Jaara Aborigines. After extensive travels throughout the region by Major Thomas Mitchell, settlement by Europeans occurred in 1848 when Robert Cay and William Kaye established a station and named the region after a town in Greenwich, England. Unlike many other towns in the region, Charlton was not established as a result of gold mining, but for pastoral purposes and the proximity to a permanent water supply (the Avoca River). The original town was named Charlton East due to its location on the eastern banks of the Avoca River, and the fact that another town in the Victoria was named Charlton (renamed Chute in 1879). The Charlton East Post Office opened on 21 December 1876 (renamed Charlton in 1879) replacing an earlier (1854) office nearby named Yowen Hill.
The first bridge to cross the river was erected in 1867 by James Paterson, allowing for expansion on both sides of the river. Throughout the history of Charlton, the Avoca River has been known for its spontaneous flooding after heavy rain showers, resulting in many floods that often surrounded the town or on rare occasions flooded the town. Levee banks were constructed to their present levels in the 1950s, however parts of the town were flooded in September 2010.
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