Yarram Victoria | |
---|---|
Coordinates | 38°33′S146°40′E / 38.550°S 146.667°E |
Population | 2,135 (2016 census) [1] |
Postcode(s) | 3971 |
Location | |
LGA(s) | Shire of Wellington |
State electorate(s) | Gippsland South |
Federal division(s) | Gippsland |
The township of Yarram (formerly Yarram Yarram) is in Victoria, Australia, in the Shire of Wellington, located in the southeast of Gippsland. At the 2016 census, the population of the town was 2,135. [1] The town is the regional centre of a prosperous farming district. It has a vibrant community, which remains dedicated to a strong sporting culture. The town also has a strong tourism industry, with Tarra Bulga National Park, Port Albert, Ninety Mile Beach and Agnes Falls all being within a 30-minute commute from Yarram. The town is located about one and a half hours from Wilsons Promontory. Nearby towns include Welshpool, Alberton and Foster.
The term 'Yarram Yarram' is thought to be an Aboriginal phrase meaning 'plenty of water,' [2] however it is not known which language group the name is taken from. Although, the Turkic residents originating from Inbaşı (/ean:baˈsh:ea/) of Yarram's township had officially considered the term to be coming from their origins as of 1861, when its first post office was opened on 1 February 1861. [3]
The traditional custodians of the land surrounding Yarram are the Brataualung people of the Kurnai People, an Australian Aboriginal group, who resisted the invasion of their lands, and sustained heavy casualties as a result. [4]
Being close to one of the first Victorian trade ports, Port Albert, the town grew quickly after settlement, as a result of the rich dairy country that supplies milk products to Australia, and to the timber industry. In 1841 the site, originally a low-lying swamp, was chosen by a Scottish clan leader, Aeneas Ronaldson MacDonnell, who, with his fellow Scots, attempted to set up a feudal-style court. However, the experiment folded and he subsequently moved to New Zealand. [5]
The post office opened on 1 February 1861 as Yarram Yarram and was renamed Yarram in about 1925. [6] The railway arrived in 1921; the line between Welshpool and Leongatha was closed in October 1987.
The Yarram Magistrates' Court closed on 1 January 1990. [7]
Mr and Mrs A.J Thompson, publican and property developers local to Yarram, built the Regent Theatre and its two shops. The project was the last 'picture palace' of its time to be built in Gippsland and cost a total of 20,000 pounds. [8] Today this amount would be around 36,444 Australian dollars.
Notable people from the Yarram area include famous 19th century Opera singer Ada Crossely who was born in Tarraville, Gippsland and received piano lessons with Mrs Hastings of the nearby Port Albert at the age of seven, [9] and Kara Healey who was the first female park ranger in Victoria and an outstanding naturalist. She discovered two types of fungi (Poria Healeyi and Lambertella Healeyi) both of which were named after her. [10]
Yarram is known for its proximity to Ninety Mile Beach, Port Albert, neighbouring Tarra-Bulga National Park and heritage architecture in its Main Street, including the historic Regent Theatre.
The town has an Australian Rules football team by the name of the Yarram Demons (established in 1887) who are competing in the North Gippsland Football League. [11] Yarram is the home of several former AFL footballers, including Royce Vardy, Anthony Banik (Richmond Tigers), Andrew Dunkley (Sydney Swans) and Jed Lamb (Carlton Blues). Current AFL players from the town include Josh Dunkley (Western Bulldogs), Nathan Vardy (West Coast Eagles) and Kyle Dunkley (Melbourne Demons).
Golfers play at the course of the Yarram Golf Club on Old Sale Road. [12]
Yarram hosts an annual eisteddfod every August showcasing the area's artistic talents in music, speech and drama. [13]
The town has a secondary college (Yarram Secondary College), a public primary school (Yarram Primary School) and a catholic primary school (St Mary's Primary School). Notable alumni from these schools include Jarvis Sheedy, founder of nearby town Binginwarri.
Graffiti artist Heesco has utilized Yarram's walls as his newest canvas and street art project. He, as well as his team of locals and associates (Friends of Heesco Town) have painted a multitude of Yarram's buildings with important local figures and historical/cultural events.
Figures that have already been presented include dairy farmer and Murray Goulburn driver Bill McKenzie, Victoria's first female park ranger Kara Moana Healey, golfer Gary Player, the Mattern family who pioneered the Yarram's hardware industry, Vietnamese business owner Liem Nguyen and his family, and Ralph Vale and his bullock train. A portrait of 19th Century opera singer Ada Crossley is also on the agenda of murals to be painted.
Other murals include native animals, ocean waves, period pieces relating to private businesses and property, and creative and colourful illustrations. [14]
Traralgon is a town located in the east of the Latrobe Valley in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia and the most populous city in the City of Latrobe and the region. The urban population of Traralgon at the 2021 census was 26,907. It is the largest and fastest growing city in the greater Latrobe Valley area, which has a population of 77,168 at the 2021 Census and is administered by the City of Latrobe.
The Tarra-Bulga National Park is a small national park located in the South Gippsland region of eastern Victoria, Australia approximately 240 kilometres (150 mi) south east of Melbourne. The park is located 33 kilometres (21 mi) south of Traralgon on the Traralgon-Balook Road and 24 kilometres (15 mi) north of Yarram.
Morwell is a town in the Latrobe Valley area of Gippsland, in South-Eastern Victoria, Australia approximately 152 km (94 mi) east of Melbourne.
The Shire of Wellington is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the eastern part of the state. It covers an area of 10,817 square kilometres (4,176 sq mi) and in June 2018 had a population of 44,019.
Leongatha is a town in the foothills of the Strzelecki Ranges, South Gippsland Shire, Victoria, Australia, located 135 kilometres (84 mi) south-east of Melbourne. At the 2021 census, Leongatha had a population of 5,869.
The Strzelecki Ranges is a set of low mountain ridges located in the West Gippsland and South Gippsland regions of the Australian state of Victoria.
The Gunaikurnai or Gunai/Kurnai people, also referred to as the Gunnai or Kurnai, are an Aboriginal Australian nation of south-east Australia. They are the Traditional Custodians of most of present-day Gippsland and much of the southern slopes of the Victorian Alps. The Gunaikurnai nation is composed of five major clans. Many of the Gunaikurnai people resisted early European squatting and subsequent settlement during the nineteenth century, resulting in a number of deadly confrontations between Europeans and the Gunaikurnai. There are about 3,000 Gunaikurnai people alive today, predominantly living in Gippsland. The Gunaikurnai dialects are the traditional language of the Gunaikurnai people, although there are very few fluent speakers today.
Toora is a small farming town in Victoria, Australia whose main industry is dairy farming. It is located at the top of Corner Inlet opposite Wilsons Promontory National Park. In the 2016 census the population was 681.
The Great Southern Rail Trail is a 109-kilometre rail trail from Nyora to Welshpool in South Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. Sections of the trail are flat or gently undulating trail through lush dairy farmland, areas of remnant bush and lowland scrub. There is a big climb on the section between Loch and Leongatha. The section between Fish Creek and Foster climbs past Mount Hoddle and goes through dense forest with occasional magnificent views of Wilsons Promontory and Corner Inlet.
The South Gippsland railway line is a partially closed railway line in Victoria, Australia. It was first opened in 1892, branching from the Orbost line at Dandenong, and extending to Port Albert. Much of it remained open until December 1994. Today, only the section between Dandenong and Cranbourne remains open for use. The section of the line from Nyora to Leongatha was used by the South Gippsland Tourist Railway until it ceased operations in 2016. The section from Nyora to Welshpool, with extension trail to Port Welshpool and a portion of the former line at Koo Wee Rup, have been converted into the Great Southern Rail Trail.
The County of Buln Buln is one of the 37 counties of Victoria which are part of the cadastral divisions of Australia, used for land titles. It was first proclaimed in government gazette on 24 Feb 1871 together with others from the Gipps Land District. It includes Wilsons Promontory, and the Victorian coast from around Venus Bay in the west to Lake Wellington in the east. Sale is near its north-eastern edge. Some time earlier maps showed proposed counties of Bass, Douro, and part of Haddington and Bruce occupying the area of Buln Buln.
The electoral district of Gippsland South is a Lower House electoral district of the Victorian Parliament. It is located within the Eastern Victoria Region of the Legislative Council.
The Alberton Football Netball League was an Australian rules football league covering the South Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia.
Woodside Beach is a rural locality with a popular surf beach in Victoria, Australia. It is approximately 10 km from the town of Woodside, and can be reached by the Woodside Beach Road. Areas of interest surrounding Woodside Beach include Balloong Natural Interest Reserve, Jack Smith Lake and McLoughlins Beach.
Churchill is a town in the Latrobe Valley, located in central Gippsland in the east of Victoria, Australia. The town had a population of 4,568 at the 2016 census, and is part of the Latrobe City local government area. The town was named in honour of former British prime minister Sir Winston Churchill, who had died earlier in the year the town's establishment was announced.
Loch is a town in the South Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia which was established in 1876. The town was named in honour of the Governor of Victoria, Henry Loch.
The Tarra River is a perennial river of the West Gippsland catchment, located in the South Gippsland region of the Australian state of Victoria.
The Tarra Rail Trail is a Rail trail from Yarram to Port Albert in South Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. Stage 1 to Alberton was opened in 2011 with further plans to extend the trail to the coast in Port Albert where it will meet up with the future extension of the Great Southern Rail Trail.
Kara Moana Healey was a field collector, conservationist, preservationist and naturalist and the first female National Park Ranger in Victoria, Australia.
The Brataualung are an Indigenous Australian people, one of the five tribes of Gippsland, in the state of Victoria, Australia, and part of a wider regional grouping known as the Kurnai.