Port Arthur in TasmaniaPort Arthur in Tasmania's far south-east, on the Tasman Peninsula, began operating in 1830 as a timber station. It became a prison settlement for male convicts with a reputation as being a "hell-on-earth" in 1833.
With convict labour, Port Arthur became near self-sufficient, producing ships, sawn timber, clothing, boots and shoes, bricks, furniture, vegetables and other goods. The prison closed in 1877.
The prison was renamed Carnarvon in an attempt to erase its former prison associations, but the name 'Port Arthur' was reinstated in 1927.
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