Hopetoun is a town which serves as the major service centre for the Southern Mallee area of Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. Hopetoun is situated 400 kilometres north-west of Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

 on the Henty Highway

Henty Highway

Henty Highway is a 360 kilometre highway in western Victoria, Australia. It's primarily a north-south route, and consists of a mix of 2 laned country highway standard and 4 lane arterial road within some of the larger towns along the route....

 in the Shire of Yarriambiack. At the 2006 census

Census in Australia

The Australian census is administered once every five years by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The most recent census was conducted on 9 August 2011; the next will be conducted in 2016. Prior to the introduction of regular censuses in 1961, they had also been run in 1901, 1911, 1921, 1933,...

, Hopetoun had a population of 589.

History

The town was named after the 7th Earl of Hopetoun

John Hope, 1st Marquess of Linlithgow

John Adrian Louis Hope, 1st Marquess of Linlithgow KT, GCMG, GCVO, PC , also known as Viscount Aithrie before 1873 and as The 7th Earl of Hopetoun between 1873 and 1902, was a Scottish aristocrat, politician and colonial administrator. He is best known for his brief and controversial tenure as the...

, Victorian Governor from 1889 to 1895 and later the first Governor-General of Australia

Governor-General of Australia

The Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia is the representative in Australia at federal/national level of the Australian monarch . He or she exercises the supreme executive power of the Commonwealth...

. The Post Office opened on 12 September 1891 when the township was established.

During the early 2009 Australian heatwave, the city experienced several days of intense heat, with a peak of 48.8 °C (119.8 °F). The reading was the highest temperature nationwide during the event, and also broke the record for highest temperature in Victoria.

The town today

The town consists of two hotels, a newsagent, post office, chemist and pharmacist, hairdressers, car dealership, 3 service stations, 2 junior schools (one state, one catholic) and a senior secondary college which caters for surrounding townships. It also has a restaurant called the Bon Bon and an Op Shop. Hopetoun Airport

Hopetoun Airport

Hopetoun Airport is an airport in Hopetoun, Victoria, Australia. Currently, no scheduled passenger services operate at the airport....

 serves the town.

Local attractions include Wyperfeld National Park

Wyperfeld National Park

Wyperfeld National Park is the third largest national park in Victoria . Declared in 1921 and expanded significantly since, it protects more than 3,500 km² of mallee, woodland, and heathland in Victoria's north-west, about 450 km northwest of Melbourne.Like most of north-western Victoria, Wyperfeld...

, Yarriambiack Creek and Lake Corrong.

Hopetoun has a football

Australian rules football

Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

 team competing in the Mallee Football League

Mallee Football League (Victoria)

The Mallee Football League is an Australian rules football league based in the Mallee region of northwestern Victoria. It is not to be confused with the identically named Mallee Football League .-History:...

, netball clubs, a golf course, lawn bowls, cricket and tennis competitions, basketball and many other sporting and recreational activities for all ages.

Golfers play at the course of the Hopetoun Golf Club on Rainbow Road.