This settlement is located in central Tasmania, and is home to one of the hydro-electric power stations. The name of the town is derived from the Aboriginal words for "noisy water".

The seeds of the settlement were first sown as far back as 1900 when 4 men; Professor Alex McAulay - a maths professor in the University of Tasmania, Mr Harold Bisdee - a landowner, Mr James Gillies - a metallurgist, mining engineer and owner of the Victoria Co Complex Ores Ltd, and Mr G Brettingham Moore - a civil engineer, investigated the potential of hydro electric power in Tasmania.

In 1908 they approached the State government who refused to financially assist them, but granted them permission to use the waters of the Shannon and Ouse rivers and the Great Lake.

In 1910 Kanna Leena, the McAulay family holiday home, became the site for the engineers in the area. The area was 2 days from Hobart, and the workers were housed in tents. Bisdee opened a store with supplies from stores in Bothwell, the nearest town to the camp.

The same year the first sod was turned on the Waddamana Great Lake Scheme under the ownership of the Hydro Electrical Power and Metallurgical Co Ltd. A tramway from Red Gate to Waddamana was constructed in 1911, but by 1912 the headquarters had moved to Waddamana and the construction work was forced to stop due to lack of money.

Work restarted in 1913, and 17 miles of tramway, a gravity dam at Miena, a canal and a pipeline had been constructed - but there was no sign of any electrical equipment or turbines.

In 1914, the government acting on the advice of a New Zealand engineer E Parry, bought the company and thus the HEPM Co Ltd became the Hydro Electric Department. By 1915 the power station at Waddamana had been completed, and staff were appointed to supervise it. The beginnings of a community had started with the construction of cottages for the construction workers.

The official opening of the power station was on 5th May 1916. 3 years later the village was becoming the construction and operational centre of the Great Lake Power Scheme. A school opened in 1918 and had a first day attendance of 6 pupils, rising to a peak of 38 by 1962. In 1920 a doctor was assigned to the area, and all the construction workers were housed in huts.

By 1922 construction work was ending, and a relaxed pace of life was developing. In 1930 the Hydro Electric Department became the Hydro Electric Commission. 1937 saw the school in Waddamana threatened with closure due to the decrease in attendance.

In 1939 a new construction camp was established when it was decided to construct another power station. When war broke out in 1940 a Garrison was established at Waddamana to protect the important power stations.

In 1943 Waddamana had a total of 25 houses, and the second power station had almost reached completion. The new encampment decided to establish a separate settlement at Hilltop in 1945, and the continued construction of workers' cottages was ongoing to provide permanent comfortable quarters.

1947 saw the arrival of immigrants, mainly Poles, to help the labour situation. The Hilltop settlement was expanding in tandem with the settlement at Waddamana.

By June of 1953 the Hilltop camp was totally closed, and 2 years later following the construction of newer houses for construction workers and their families the original Miena Dam was destroyed to allow a freer water flow into the Shannon River.

With the advent of the new Great Lake Scheme at Poatina, the Waddamana Power Station was officially closed in June 1965 with the B station remaining operational as a back up. With the closure of the station the town declined, and Waddamana was no longer a "Hydro" village.


The main attraction in the area is the Waddamana Power Museum which is open to the public daily from 10am to 4pm. The Museum was established in 1988 as part of the Bicentennial Celebrations and is an important record of the development of the Hydro-Electric Scheme in the State.

It also has displays recounting the hardships that the pioneering men and women involved in construction had to endure. Turbine displays as well as other items of interest are on display here. Picnic and barbecue areas are available outside the Museum.

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