Penguin is a town on the north-west coast of Tasmania, Australia.
Penguin is a town on the north-west coast of Tasmania, Australia.It is in the Central Coast Council local government area and on the Bass Highway, between Burnie and Ulverstone.At the 2016 census, Penguin had a population of 3,849.
History
Penguin was first settled in 1861 as a timber town, and proclaimed on 25 October 1875. The area's dense bushland and easy access to the sea led to Penguin becoming a significant port town, with large quantities of timber shipped across Bass Strait to Victoria, where the 1850s gold rushes were taking place. The town was named by the botanist Ronald Campbell Gunn for the little penguin rookeries that are common along the less populated areas of the coast.Sulphur Creek Post Office opened on 1 January 1867 and was replaced by the Penguin Creek office in 1868. The latter office was renamed Penguin in 1895.Penguin was one of the last districts settled along the North West coast of Tasmania, possibly because of an absence of a river for safe anchorage.Nearly all travel in those days was by boat as bush made the land almost impenetrable. Many of the settlers probably emigrated from Liverpool via landing in Launceston then sailing west along the coast.
Trade began when the wharf was built in 1870, allowing timber and potatoes to be exported. Penguin Silver Mine, along the foreshore slightly to the east of the town opened in 1870 but failed a year later.Neptune Mine, a tad further along, likewise failed.
The rail from Ulverstone arrived in 1901, after which trade by sea declined. Passing of the Local Government Act in 1906 saw Tasmania divided into 48 Municipalities.
Penguin’s first Council was elected in 1907, and the early stages of the municipal council were seen as benefiting the community. It was not until 1993 that the council was amalgamated with the Ulverstone council to form the Central Coast Council.
Weather
Things to do
The Big Penguin, which Penguin is home to, was made of ferro cement by the Goliath Cement Co of Railton and later coated with fibreglass, is located in the town’s centre opposite the Post Office. Unveiled on 25 October 1975, it was erected to commemorate the centenary of the naming of the town. Concerns were raised in 2008 as to the possibility of asbestos contamination, but the Big Penguin was given the all clear. It is also interesting to note that all street rubbish bins are decorated with ornamental cement fairy penguins.
The town itself sits at the base of the Dial Range, a small mountain range that also borders Riana and Gunns Plains. The four mountains with popular hiking trails within the Penguin vicinity include Mount Montgomery, Mount Dial, Mount Gnomon, and Mount Duncan. The Penguin District School four house names reference the mountains.Penguin General Cemetery, over looks Bass Strait. Opened in the 1860s, it closed in 1977 and was heritage-listed in 2007.
The response to the cemetery's ongoing and widespread publicity was such that the Tasmanian Association for Hospice & Palliative Care (TAH&PC) funded the inaugural Penguin Twilight Celebration of the Dead - music among the tombstones. The event, held in the cemetery on 7 January 2015, was supported by the broader Penguin community. It marked the centenary of the cemetery's unknown burial. The celebration culminated in a butterfly release in the commemorative garden dedicated to the tens of unnamed babies in the cemetery. A fund-raising onsite formal long-table dinner was held in February 2016.
In 2018 Penguin launched its heritage sites and other attractions website. Most recently the Penguin community dedicated a sculpture to its many unnamed children buried in the cemetery. Children of the World by Bruny Island artist Keith Smith stands in its small commemorative garden.Each year since 2018 many shops in the CBD decorate themselves in pink; Pink Up Your Town is a fundraising activity for the McGrath Foundation. It also saw the community coming together to revitalise the foreshore under the 7-Day Makeover program, which has continually brightened the town since its inception. Local resident Shirley Good currently organises the event.Installed in July 2020 is an art piece featuring a mosaic on the front and a word-jumble on the back, celebrating how marginalised people contribute to our communities, despite their struggles. It demonstrates how a sense of community can develop around marginalised people.
