Ararat

Boasting captivating heritage and café chic, Ararat characterises the energy and diversity of the region with an incredible blend of iconic Victorian-era architecture, notably the Ararat Town Hall and Pyrenees House, and classic examples of art deco buildings and structures. With a population of 7170, Ararat has a picturesque outlook to the east over Mt Langi Ghiran and the Pyrenees ranges, while the immense Grampians National Park is just 30 minutes to the west.

Ararat is home to the Gum San Chinese Heritage Centre, one of the few examples of a traditional Chinese Pagoda building within Australia and boasts everything from café culture to boutique shops and a diversity of sporting and education facilities. Other unique attractions include the chilling J Ward, the imposing bluestone jail that was home to the State’s criminally insane from 1859 to 1991 and is now a major tourist attraction, the former Aradale Mental Asylum, and Ararat Regional Art Gallery which houses one of two major contemporary fibre and textile art collections in regional Australia. Ararat is also the hub of a thriving wine industry and agriculture continues to be an important economic driver in the region with significant farm enterprises in cropping and wool growing. 

History

Ararat boasts a fascinating history as the only town in Australia to be founded by Chinese, who discovered gold at the Canton Lead in 1857, triggering a gold rush that saw 30,000 people descend on the town in a matter of weeks. The Tjapwurong Aborigines inhabited the Ararat district long before the arrival of white men. The townsite was known to them as 'Butingitch'. The first Europeans in the district were the party of explorer Thomas Mitchell on their expedition through 'Australia Felix'. Mitchell's positive report on the land east of the Grampians encouraged squatters to move into the district.

The first was Horatio Wills, the stepson of Robert Howe who established Sydney's first newspaper. Together with his family and some stockmen, Wills drove 500 cattle and 5000 sheep from the Murrumbidgee in 1839. The following year they camped on a hill one day shy of their destination. Wills named the hill Mount Ararat 'for like the Ark we have rested here'.

Ararat's first newspaper was published in 1857. The town was named after the nearby mountain and declared a municipality almost immediately (in 1858). Work on a hospital, water supply, cemetery, botanical gardens, mechanics institute, church and courthouse began the following year. A gaol was completed in 1861 and a post office in 1862.

Ararat was advanced to the status of a borough in 1863 but, by that time, the gold had already begun to dwindle. However, the town survived as a service centre to the old pastoral properties and as a regional administrative centre. Moreover, from 1862, the process of breaking up the old squatter's estates began. Selectors gained a foothold and farming commenced. When the railway arrived in 1875 Ararat became a major rail junction.

The Mafeking goldrush at Mt William in 1900 saw a revival of gold fever and a resurgence of Ararat's population. Other goldmines contributed to the local economy from 1909 to 1920. The borough became a town in 1934 and a city in 1950.

Today Ararat continues to thrive, with flourishing investment and major manufacturing companies such as farm machinery producer A.F. Gason, and electrical wiring company AME Systems underpinning a growing regional economy.

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