Echuca

Town in Victoria, Australia, on the Murray River, 207 km/129 mi north of Melbourne, in the Riverina district; population (1996) 10,014. With Moama on the other side of the river, Echuca formed what once was the largest inland port for paddlesteamers in Australia; it is now a thriving tourist centre where some of the original paddlesteamers from the late 19th century operate on the river.

In the late 19th century and early 20th century the boats carried essential supplies to homesteads along the river system, returning with bales of wool, and harvests of wheat. Many of the paddlesteamers towed barges, lying low in the water beneath loads of timber, cut from surrounding eucalyptus forests and transported to Echuca sawmills.