Tas That Was – Smithton

Smithton was established in 1856 as ‘Duck River’. (The name change occurred 39 years later in 1895.) Nearby land was cleared and converted into farmland, and in 1905, the settlement was officially declared a town.

Although it started booming in 1913, when the first regular train service started passing through, Smithton really began to flourish in the 1920s and ‘30s. The town became the administrative base of the Circular Head Council in the early 1920s, and its first school was established in 1937. A hospital had been built by the late 1950s.

The town had a population of 3,934 at the 2021 census.

Tas That Was is a column that includes:

• anecdotes of life in Tasmania in the past;
• historical photographs of locations in Tasmania; and/or
• documentaries about locations in Tasmania.

If you have an anecdote or photograph you’d like to share with us, please send it to submit@tasmaniantimes.com.

Callum J. Jones studied English, History, and Journalism at the University of Tasmania. He has written fiction and non-fiction for Tasmanian Times since 2018. He can be traced by the smell of fresh coffee.

Follow him on Twitter (@Callum_Jones_10) and Facebook (@callum.j.jones.creative).