York Town is an historic area by the shores of the Tamar River estuary. It is close to the industrial town of Bell Bay , the former mining town of Beaconsfield, and the historical town of George Town.

There is a monument to York Town in the local picnic area, which declares the town as 'site of the first permanent settlement in Australia'. Its original name was Launceston, and it was so named by John Oxley in 1810. Just over a year later, Governor Lachlan Macquarie arrived in the area, and although settlement had begun with the construction of various buildings and the planting of trees, he deemed the site inappropriate for major development as a potential commercial centre. The town was subsequently abandoned, and the major centre that Macquarie envisaged was developed on the site of the Launceston we know today.

There are no longer any traces of the original town in York Town, but the area is still populated with a number of small farms.

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