Whitemark

About Whitemark

Whitemark is the main settlement and administrative centre of Flinders Island, the largest of the Furneaux Group in Bass Strait, Tasmania, with the Flinders Council chambers, post office, library and shops. The original name, White Mark, came from a white sand blow that sailors used as a navigational aid, or from a whitish survey mark in a tree showing a crossing between two lagoons; it became one word when a wireless station was built in 1913, as the price of messages was calculated per word. Early buildings included a house and store of 1900, a school in 1911, the Interstate Hotel in 1912 and a courthouse in 1913.