The King Valley, or King River Valley is a wine-producing and agricultural region centred on the King River in north-eastern Victoria, Australia between Wangaratta and the Alpine National Park. There are a number of small towns within the region including Cheshunt, Whitfield, King Valley, Edi, Claremont, Moyhu, Byrne, Docker and Oxley.
The fertile valley area has been used since the 1880s to grow a variety of crops including hops and tobacco. A narrow-gauge railway was built between Wangaratta and Whitfield in 1889 and a government tobacco research farm was established in Edi and moved to Whitfield in 1902. Following the end of World War II, a large number of Italian, Yugoslav and Spanish migrants settled in the area and established tobacco farms. Following a decline in the tobacco industry in the late 70s, local farmers branched out into other crops such as chestnuts, hops and berries. In recent years, a number of vineyards have been established.
Famous quotes containing the words king and/or valley:
“When the Prince of Piedmont [later Charles Emmanuel IV, King of Sardinia] was seven years old, his preceptor instructing him in mythology told him all the vices were enclosed in Pandora’s box. “What! all!” said the Prince. “Yes, all.” “No,” said the Prince; “curiosity must have been without.””
—Horace Walpole (1717–1797)
“Down in the valley,
Valley so low,
Hang your head over,
Hear the train blow.”
—Unknown. Down in the Valley (l. 1–4)