Port Albert, Victoria

Port Albert is a coastal town in Victoria, Australia, on the coast of Corner Inlet on the Yarram - Port Albert Road, 82km south-east of Morwell, 236km south-east of Melbourne, in the Shire of Wellington. At the, Port Albert had a population of 248.Location and featuresPort Albert was one of the earliest ports established in Victoria. In 1841 the Gippsland Company investigated the area following favourable reports from explorer Angus McMillan. In May of that year the first settlers arrived.Initially the area was known as Seabank or Old Port, but was changed to New Leith when the town started developing, and later changed to Alberton and Port Albert in honour of Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the husband of Queen Victoria.The Post Office opened on 1 November 1842 as Alberton (it was renamed Port Albert in 1856) and was the fourth to open in the Port Phillip District. It became the administrative centre of Gippsland and a transport hub for cargo between Melbourne and Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania), thanks to its 250-metre timber jetty. As the Victorian Gold Rush began in the 1850s, traffic through Port Albert increased, bringing prospectors from Europe and China, many of whom were headed for the Dargo goldfields. This further added to Port Albert's prosperity.