Sandfly, Tasmania
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Sandfly Tasmania |
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Sandfly Hall, built 1903
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 Sandfly
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| Coordinates | 42°59′45″S 147°11′24″E / 42.99583°S 147.19000°ECoordinates: 42°59′45″S 147°11′24″E / 42.99583°S 147.19000°E |
| Postcode(s) | 7105 |
| LGA(s) | Kingborough Council |
| State electorate(s) | Franklin |
| Federal Division(s) | Franklin |
Sandfly is a suburb in the Kingborough Council local government area in Tasmania, Australia. A region of the Franklin Electorate, Sandfly is a historic area that sits between the suburbs of Longley, Lower Longley, Allens Rivulet, Margate, Leslie Vale and Kaoota. The population of Sandfly in 2011 was 156.
The origin of the name of the suburb is confused. It is named after Sandfly Rivulet, a tributary of the Huon River, discovered in 1837 and renamed Kellaways Creek in 1969, but the origin of the rivulets name is unknown. A number of local geographic features also have the name Sandfly; the area between the Rivulet through to Pelverata and Kaoota became the Sandfly Basin and the present Pelverata Falls were originally Sandfly Falls. The present Sandfly Road was Cross Road, and instead the now Pelverata Road was originally Sandfly Road.
Usage of the term is now less common but Sandfly originally formed the center of the Sandfly basin, the region that encompasses the localities of Longley, Lower Longley, Kaoota, Allens Rivulet, Neika and Sandfly, roughly based on the area of the old Sandfly Rivulet. As late as 1905 it was legally enshrined as the Road District of Sandfly Basin, used as a school district in 1882. There also existed a Parish of the Sandfly Basin for a short period.
Sandfly was first settled in the 1850s. Its economy was built on the growing of small fruits, apples and pears like the nearby Huon Valley. Sandfly School was built in 1883 and burnt down in 1897 during bushfires. In 1898 a new school was built and used until 1966; it burnt down the next year during Black Tuesday.
Sandfly Methodist Church's foundation was laid in 1897 but delayed the same year due to the 1897 Tasmanian bushfires. Construction rebegun in 1899 and it opened on 13 August 1899. The church burnt down in Black Tuesday, the last service being on 5 February 1967. Longley Anglican Church and Longley Anglican Church both burnt down in the same fires and in 1969 a combined Methodist-Anglican Church (St Lukes of Sandfly) was built where the school had burnt down. It closed in 2008.
Sandfly Hall was built in 1903, with the foundation stone laid by Captain Evans MHA on 7 March and the entire hall built in just three weeks. An anteroom was added in 1934, opened by Ben Pearsall MHA in November.
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