Pontville, Tasmania  Pontville is a small rural community north of Hobart, in the south-east of Tasmania, Australia. At the , Pontville had a population of 2,166. Pontville was sited by Governor Lachlan Macquarie, in 1821, and was an early garrison town, where convicts built the bridge over the Jordan River. During World Wars I and II the area had a major army camp. There is an old sandstone bridge in Pontville that lies on the Jordan River. The bridge is part of the Midland Highway. A railway line connected the town with Hobart from 1891 until 1947. Additional excursion trains operated from Hobart, bringing riflemen to the nearby range. "Brighton" Post Office opened on 1 June 1832, was renamed "Pontville" in 1895, and closed in 1973. The Federal Government announced in April 2011 that it would spend $15 million on converting the army rifle range to an asylum-seeker detention centre, housing 400 people, mainly single adult men. Although the 'Pontville Immigration Detention Centre' was also used to house under-age males. In February 2012 it was announced by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship that the centre would be closed, which it did in September 2013.