Wodonga

History

Founded as a customs post with its twin city Albury on the other side of the Murray River, the town grew subsequent to the opening of the first bridge across the Murray in 1860. Originally named Wodonga, its name was changed to Belvoir then later back to Wodonga.

The Post Office opened 1 June 1856 although known as Belvoir until 26 July 1869. It had previously been regarded as the smaller, less prosperous cousin of the two. Whilst still somewhat smaller than Albury, economic growth in both areas has ameliorated such distinctions.

Industry

Major secondary industries based in Wodonga include a logistics distributions hub (LOGIC), a large cattle market, a pet food factory (Mars Corporation), a can factory (Visy), a cardboard box factory (Visy Board), a hydraulic hose manufacturer, an abattoir, and a foundry (Bradken Limited) as well as a variety of other, smaller enterprises. It also serves as a central point for the delivery of government services to the surrounding region.

It houses the Australian corporate headquarters for Mars Corp. Wodonga is the site of an Australian Army logistics base and a training centre for Army technical apprentices, the Army Logistic Training Centre, which is based at Latchford Barracks and Gaza Ridge Barracks. It is also the home of a campus of La Trobe University and Wodonga Institute of TAFE.

Several experiments in cross-border governance in an attempt to bring the cities of Albury and Wodonga together have been tried. (See Albury–Wodonga for details.)

Sport and culture

There are three Australian rules football clubs in Wodonga, the Wodonga Football Club, the Wodonga Raiders Football Club and the Wodonga Saints Football Club. Wodonga and Wodonga Raiders compete in the Ovens & Murray Football League, while the Wodonga Saints compete in the Tallangatta & District Football League. There are many other sporting clubs in the region. Brisbane Lions dual-premiership player Daniel Bradshaw and celebrated St. Kilda forward Fraser Gehrig is originally from Wodonga.

Wodonga is also home to a number of cricket clubs which compete in the Cricket Albury Wodonga (CAW) competition. These include the Belvoir Eagles, Wodonga Bulldogs and Wodonga Raiders.

Cyclists are catered for by the Albury Wodonga Cycling Club. The Albury Wodonga Cycling Club holds club races most weekends, is part of the Riverina Interclub and hosts the annual John Woodman Memorial Wagga to Albury Cycling Classic.

Wodonga has a horse racing club, the Wodonga & District Turf Club, which schedules around seven race meetings a year including the Wodonga Cup meeting in November.

Golfers play the course at SS&A Wodonga on Parkers Road.

Much of the arts and theatrical activity in the region is conducted in a cross-border fashion; for instance HotHouse Theatre is located almost equidistant from the Wodonga and Albury city centres.

Australian Socceroos Archie Thompson and Joshua Kennedy played for soccer team Twin City Wanderers as children. Wodonga Diamonds Football Club and Wodonga Heart Soccer Club are two other soccer clubs based in Wodonga. All three clubs compete in the Albury Wodonga Football Association. In early 2014, a new club representing the region and playing its games in Wodonga was founded as Murray United F.C.. It will compete in the National Premier Leagues Victoria 1 from 2015.

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