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Traralgon today, as you
will discover if you journey around its streets and byways, is a modern city. With a
population of around 21,000 people, its bustling commercial centre is the largest in
Gippsland.
Most of this growth and prosperity has occurred in the fifty years
since the end of the Second World War. During this period the city has undergone marked
changes in its structure, demography and economy. The following outlines the city's
background and the factors which have influenced its development.
Beginnings
In 1840, the Polish born Count Strzelecki, after exploring the Snowy
Mountains, where he climbed and named Mt. Kosciusko in honor of the Polish patriot,
followed McMillan's track through Gippsland to the Glengarry River, (later named the
Latrobe). He then journeyed south west along the north bank until he came to a spot nearly
opposite the present site of "Fernhill" homestead. Here his party crossed the
river. He intended to proceed due south to Corner Inlet, but the dense forest of the
ranges, later named after him, forced them to turn towards Western Port. Somewhere near
the spot known today as Koornalla they abandoned their horses and turned west. The
journey, expected to take only days, took three weeks.
As Strzelecki journeyed through the plain country south of the
river, he passed probably no more than three or four kilometers to the east of the future
city. He noted the fine land, and after his return to Melbourne, reported on this. Very
soon other parties were penetrating into the area. In one of these was a young settler
from the Port Phillip district, Edward Hobson, who with his brother Edmund had large
holdings in the Rosebud area. Hobson's party had to fight their way through thick scrub to
approach the district from the west. He was very impressed with the country in the
vicinity of the junction of the Traralgon Creek and the Latrobe River. His brother, Dr.
Edmund Hobson, who conducted a practice in Melbourne, took up a run of 19,000 acres which
covered all of the area of Traralgon and out to Wade's Creek in the west, and to about the
spot where Refair is today. The southern boundary was the edge of the hills. He made his
brother Edward his overseer.
In April 1844, Edward went out from their station near Arthur's Seat, with a large mob of
cattle. It took them two months, travelling via Tarwin and South Gippsland, to reach the
run. On the way they had to contend with flooded rivers and creeks, and lost 240 cattle.
They finally arrived in June 1844. Hobson constructed a hut down near the mouth of the
Creek, and this was the first building to be erected in our district.
During the next year, 1845, other settlers began to move into the
area. James Rintoul had already taken up Loy Yang to the east, and Gorringe had taken up
Maryvale on the west. Another settler, Henry Meyrick, was taking sheep to the Glenmaggie
run for his brother Alfred. While wintering at Hobson's, his young assistant, George
Bolton Eagle, was mysteriously stricken with a strange illness and died very quickly. He
was buried some distance away from the hut, close to the junction of the Creek and River.
The grave is the oldest known grave of a European in this area. In 1963, the Traralgon and
District Historical Society, erected a plaque to mark the site. In 1994 as part of the
city's Sesquicentenary celebrations, the then Council of the City of Traralgon, in
conjunction with the Historical Society, erected a more permanent plaque and fenced the
site.
In 1845, James Rintoul sold Loy Yang run to John Fowler Turnbull.
Turnbull lived on the Pre-Emptive Right until the early 1870s, but by this time much of
the original run had been cut up for selection. Edward Hobson lived on the Traralgon run
until the early 1850s when he returned to the Mornington. Peninsula area. In 1847 Dr.
Hobson made his only visit to the run. In 1848 he died suddenly. The run was administered
by his Trustees, J.H.N. Castle and J.R. Murphy. In 1853, James Castle applied to have the
run split in two, divided by the Creek. It was then known as the East and West Traralgon
runs and the lease was put up for sale. Edward Hobson purchased the West run, which
covered the area from the Traralgon Creek to Wade's Creek, and Turnbull purchased the East
run, from the Creek to his boundary. In 1851, Hobson sold the West run to James Purves.
In the meantime, the track to Melbourne through West Gippsland had
been opened up. In 1846, a man named Thomas Windsor, who probably worked for Turnbull, set
up an accommodation house on the hill overlooking what is today Victory Park. He and his
wife ran this inn until about 1856, when Jeremiah Smith took it over. In 1846 a son,
William, was born to the Windsors. He was the first
white child born in the district.
The era of development.
In 1854, James Purves sold the West Traralgon run to Duncan
Campbell. Duncan and his brother built a home on the present site of "Traralgon
Park", later to become the home of another Campbell family who were also to play a
large part in the development of the town. In 1858, Duncan built a hotel on the rise
immediately to the west of the Creek and situated right on the main track. He called it
the Travellers' Rest, and for sixty years it served the people of the district as Post
Office, store, Court House, Church and what today we would call a community centre. It was
pulled down in 1914 to make way for the present Traralgon Hotel, which is known today as
Ryan's, The "Woods Point and Gippsland General Directory" for 1866 lists under
Traralgon - Duncan Campbell: Grazier, Hotel, Post Office, general store. The first wedding
was conducted there in 1863. The Catholic Church conducted their masses in the building
used as the Court House, until their own church was built in 1883.
Not long after Duncan built his hotel, gold was discovered in
Gippsland on the Tanjil. As Traralgon was on the direct route to the gold fields it soon
began to grow. The authorities decided to station a policeman at Traralgon, and late in
1860, Mounted Constable John O'Connor moved into a residence and office that had been
constructed on land that now comprises the area from Latrobe Valley Real Estate to
Riggall's Gift Shop.
By the laid 1860s a few more buildings had appeared and there were about fourteen families
living in the village. In 1869 Duncan Campbell disposed of much of his land and moved to
Sale to live. However he still retained ownership of the hotel. It was at this time that
the homestead and much of the land down to the Latrobe River and to the west was purchased
by the other Campbell family, who had
come from Ballarat. There were four brothers, Hugh, Nicol, James and Dugald. The family
have played a significant role in the district's progress ever since. Dugald was one of
the first Councillors of the Shire of Traralgon, and later became President. The
present owner of "Traralgon Park" , Mr. Dugald Campbell, is a grandson of James.
At about this time the amendments to the Colonial Land Act enabled
many people to take up land, and much of the leasehold land of Loy Yang, Traralgon West,
Maryvale and Scarne, as well as much Crown Land, was thrown open for settlement. As a
result, by the mid 1870s the population of the area had increased dramatically. Shops were
being established, and churches, a school, and several more hotels were built. One of
these hotels, the Star, built by George Hickox in 1875, has recently been
restored, and now operates as a tea rooms and craft shop. At that time, most of the
buildings, including the school and first church, were on the east side of the Creek. With
the coming of the railway, the town began to be centred on Franklin Street.
The Rosedale Roads Board was established in 1864, and the Traralgon
area came under its jurisdiction. In 1867 it became the Rosedale Shire Council, and local
butcher and prominent citizen, Henry Breed, was elected to represent Traralgon. By 1879
the people believed that they were not getting satisfactory service from Rosedale, so a
move to form their own Council was started. The Traralgon Shire was formed in 1879, and in
1880 the Council met for the first time in the Courthouse,
adjacent to the hotel. Councillor Edmund Kelleher was elected the first Shire President.
The first Shire Office was built in 1881 on land fronting the east side of Franklin
Street. The site is approximately where the main bus stand outside the Traralgon Plaza, is
today.
The building of the railway from Sale to Drouin commenced in 1874,
and this provided much work for laborers, sawmillers and sleeper cutters. When the line to
Maffra was built some years later, the repair shops and Locomotive Depot were moved from
Sale to Traralgon. They remained in service until the 1960s and provided hundreds of jobs
over the years. In the Depression years they were the main
source of employment in the town.
By the late 1870s a number of shops and other businesses had been
established. Ikin and Betteson had a shop in Kay Street near the present site of the Post
Office, and Oswald Marriage, from Rosedale, had opened his store on the corner of Franklin
and Argyle Streets. Edmund Kaye had bought the Star Hotel from Hickox, but found it was
cut off when the road to Sale was relocated. He then built a new Star, a two-storied
building in Argyle Street, where today, Latrobe Country Credit's office stands. The top
storey of the building was used by the Masonic Lodge. It was later destroyed by fire.
James Rogers rebuilt it, only for it to be burnt again years later. It was again rebuilt,
and known as the Coffee Palace; then served as an accommodation house until the early
1950s. The new Masonic Temple was built in Church Street, where it remained until the
1970s, when they relocated to the old TV studios near the Golf Course.
By the mid 1880s, much of the surrounding country had been selected,
and the town was now a bustling place providing goods and services for the settlers. Many
suffered hard times, particularly those who had settled in the hill country. Poor roads
and wet winters meant that many lived in virtual isolation for months at a time. Many
letters from ratepayers to the Council during these years invariably dealt with the state
of the roads.
In 1883, the Agricultural Society was formed, and an area was
set aside for recreation, and to conduct Shows. Today, 113 years later, it is one of the
finest Recreation Reserves in the State.
In the mid 1880s, the present Post Office and Courthouse were built and were
opened in 1886. Today both buildings, with Ryan's Hotel, enjoy National Trust status.
The main occupation of the settlers in the area was dairying. At
first it was very primitive. Milk was set in dishes; the cream was then skimmed off and
made into butter, which was sent to Melbourne by train. In the early 1890s, the first
Creameries were set up; the farmers took their milk to these, where the cream was
separated. The skim milk was taken back to their farms to feed their pigs. By 1894
the first cream separators began to appear on the farms, and this revolutionized the
industry. Very soon all of the little settlements had their own Butter Factories.
Traralgon had two; the second one lasted until the late 1950s. In 1952 it was bought out
by South Eastern Milk Products. They later erected a large modern milk factory on the
Glengarry Road. Eventually, it in turn was taken over by Murray Goulburn, and all
operations were transferred to Maffra and Leongatha. The original factory
building still exists. For some years it served as a Cordial Factory and then a Market.
For nearly seventy years, the farming sector was the backbone of
Traralgon's economy, and Wednesday was the busiest day of the week. The farmers brought
their pigs to the weekly sale, conducted by Thomas Standing and Company in yards at the
west end of Hotham Street, about where the Fire Station now stands. While the men were at
the sale, their wives did the shopping. Stores such as Layton Bros., (later W.A. Purvis
Stores), O. Gilpin and Jefferys were busy places, as were Cuddigan's, Bullock's and
Brereton's, the grocers. Then there were Vickers, Phillips and Cincotta, the green
grocers; and Stoddart and Marsh, the butchers. Most of these traders no longer exist.
Stoddart's is still trading, but is now in Henry Street. Riggall's store still exists; but
is now a gift shop, and is no longer owned by the Riggall family. Now, the big stores like
Coles, Kmart and Safeway hold sway.
During those years from the 1890s until the mid 1930s, nothing much
changed in Traralgon. The war caused much trauma, as it did everywhere. Some two hundred
men and several women went from the Traralgon district to the first World War. Fifty two
of them did not return. The motor car began to appear in the 1920s, although the odd one
had been around before the war. Wireless also became common, and people were able to
listen to the rest of the world. Gas had been produced for many years, and by the late
1930s, much of the district had electric power.
In 1936, Australian Paper Mills decided to establish a Pulp and
Paper mill at Maryvale, about eight kilometers west of Traralgon. Although the actual site
was in the Shire of Morwell, it was Traralgon that received the most benefit. Most of the
employees made their homes here, and the Company purchased land in the town and erected
homes for its senior employees. Many who had been out of work, due to the Depression,
obtained employment on the construction site, and later as production
workers. Wood was obtained from the mountain forests to the north-west, and this provided
more work for timber cutters and carters.
The Second World War intervened and many of the town's young people
went off to fight another war. Their places were taken by the older men and women. Many
women worked at the mill during the war years, doing the work that had previously only
been done by men. Although nearly 900 men and women served in the forces during the war,
the casualty list was not so great. Thirty three citizens gave their lives in that
conflict.
After the war, the town began to grow rapidly. The vast expansion of the SEC at Morwell
led to more jobs in Traralgon. The APM began a big program of expansion, which included
the large scale construction of houses in Traralgon for their employees. This led to the
establishment of numerous industries in the town, including the Great Eastern Brickworks
and Gippsland Cement. These, of course, provided more work and led to a further increase
in the population. Many of those who came were migrants from many different countries.
They enriched the life of the town. Unfortunately, while the brickworks is still in
production (now owned by Boral), the cement factory is closed.
By the late 1950s, moves were afoot to sever the town from the Shire, as it could be seen
that the development of the urban sector was moving much faster than that of the rural
sector. There was much, sometimes bitter, argument surrounding this question, and
eventually, in 1961, the Borough of Traralgon was created. Councillor John Maskrey became
the first Mayor. Two years later, Traralgon was declared a City, and Councillor Don Cooper
was elected its first Mayor.
Since that time, there has been great progress. Development really boomed in the mid
1970s, when the SEC commenced the Loy Yang Project. At the same time, the APM brought
another paper machine on line at Maryvale, and also increased its pulp mill capacity.
The Shire agreed to many large subdivisions of rural land, both on the outskirts of the
City and at Traralgon South, Hazelwood North and Callignee. Many of the workers engaged on
these projects elected to live in these areas, leading to a large increase in the
surrounding population, which in turn, boosted the business community. The economic
downturn in the 1980s was compensated for by the
establishment of the Australian Securities Commission Data Base Centre, which at its peak,
employs up to four hundred workers.
ln 1994, a further significant development took place with the Council amalgamations. The
former City of Moe, City of Traralgon, the Rural City of Morwell, the Shire of Traralgon
and parts of the Shires of Narracan, Mirboo and Rosedale amalgamated to become the La
Trobe Shire. The former offices of the City of Traralgon became the headquarters of the
new Shire. This has led to further growth in the district.
Services
The following list gives a brief account of the services and amenities developed in the
community over its one hundred and two years of history.
Churches:
ANGLICAN: The first church, St. James, was erected in 1880 on the
corner of Church and Seymour Streets. Prior to that, services were held in the
Presbyterian Church in Campbell Street. St. James Church was rebuilt in Church Street in
1922. The site was sold to Coles New World, and a new church built on the hill in Grey
Street in 1970.
PRESBYTERIAN: The first church was erected in 1878 on the east side of the Creek,
approximately where the Ambulance Station is situated in Campbell Street. It was made of
brick, and was probably the first brick structure in Traraigon. The second Church, St.
Andrews, was built on the corner of Kay and Church Street in 1914. In the 1960s, the
Presbyterians combined with the Methodists to form the
Uniting Church. Services were jointly held in both churches until 1992, when a new modern
church was erected in Park Lane. St Andrews buildings were sold, and are now part of
a restaurant and entertainment centre.
METHODIST/WESLEYAN: The first church was erected in 1879,
almost on the site of Windsor's Accommodation House in Mill Street. It was replaced by a
modern brick building in 1939. When the congregation moved to the new church in
1992, the brick church was sold to the Salvation Army, and is now used by them as their
local citadel. The old wooden church was used for many years as a Sunday School and church
hall. It was sold to the former Traralgon City Council and removed to the
Southside Central railway complex. It has been restored, and is now used as an Art Centre.
CATHOLIC: The Catholic Church has occupied the site on the south western corner of Church
and Kay Streets since 1883. Prior to that, services were held in the old court house
building next to the Traralgon Hotel. The original brick church was demolished in 1935 to
make way for the present stone structure. In the late 1970s, renovations, including the
fine stained glass windows, were carried out.
BAPTIST: The first Baptist Church was on the north-west corner of
Church and Hotham Streets. In the mid 1960s they moved to the present site in Kay Street.
LUTHERAN: A church was established in the 1960s in Shakespeare Street near
Liddiard Road. In the late 1980s, a new modern brick structure was opened at the
western end of Kay Street.
CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER DAY SAINTS: The church was
established in
the town in the 50s and 60s.
Hotels:
Early hotels still trading include - the Traralgon Hotel, (now known as Ryan's), opened
1858; the Crown, opened in 1884; the Royal Exchange, opened in 1879; and the Grand
Junction, opened in 1884.
Hostels for the Aged:
The first hostel opened in the City was the Grace Bruce and J.L.McMillan Memorial Home in
Marie Street, formerly the home of W.M. Bruce, a well-known solicitor and brother of the
author Mary Grant Bruce. The Yallambee Village for the Aged provides excellent living
conditions for elderly couples and singles, and adjacent to it is the Marjory Cole Hostel,
opened in 1975. A small well-equipped hall
serves both the Village and the Hostel. Further south in Hunter Road is "O'Mara
House", another hostel named for a long time Parish priest of St.Michael's Church.
Schools:
The first school was a slab and bark-roofed building on the comer of
Franklin and Argyle Streets, built in 1870. The first permanent school was built in
Campbell Street in 1872. The second brick school was built in Grey Street in 1912. The
Campbell Street school was moved to the Grey Street site, and became the Higher Elementary
School until the establishment of the High School in 1951. Other Primary Schools are:
Stockdale Road, est.1950; Kosciusko Street, est.1953; Liddiard Road,
est.1960; Traralgon East, St. Michael's Primary and St. Gabriel's Primary. Secondary
Schools: The Traralgon High School was relocated to a new building in Shakespeare Street
in 1955. The Technical School was established in 1960, and is now combined with the High
School as Traralgon Secondary College, using both campuses. St Paul's Marist Brothers
College and Kildare College, are now
the Catholic Regional College.
Scouts: The Scouting movement was
established by Rev. Blundell in 1924.
Traralgon Brass Band: The Band
was formed about 1881, and is one of the finest bands in the State.
Eisteddfod: Commenced in 1955,
and is one of the largest in Victoria.
Sporting Clubs:
Football: The Football Club was formed in
1883. At first games were played against local sides like Morwell, Gormandale and
Toongabbie. Later the club joined the Gippsland League, then the Central Gippsland League,
and in 1954, the Latrobe Valley League. Traralgon has been the major force in this League
for much of its forty two years of existence. In 1996 the Club entered a team in the VFL
competition, comprising teams from the old VFA and North Ballarat. There is also a very
strong
Junior Competition in the town, with sections from Under 10 to Under 16.
Cricket: The Cricket Club started in about
1873, when a team from Traralgon played Rosedale.
Horse Racing: Racing first commenced in
Traralgon about 1861, when meetings were held at the back of the Traralgon Hotel. Later a
course was established in Grey Street, near the Tyers turn-off. The present course has
been in existence since 1914.
Tennis:
The Tennis Club formed
about 1890. The original courts were in Kay Street. Later new courts were established in
Princes Street near the Bowling Club. In about 1970, a modern complex was built in
Franklin Street, near the Creek.
Bowls: The Bowling Club was established in 1908. The greens were
originally in Princes Street on the corner of Breed Street. In the 1980s, the Club moved
to a site in Liddiard Road; and is now one of the finest Bowling Clubs in Gippsland. The
RSL Club established a second Bowling Club in 1960. It too has excellent greens and
amenities.
Golf: Golf was played in the early days, but
then went into recess for some years. It recommenced in 1905, and for a time was played on
land that was part of "Traralgon Park". Later they moved to the area now known
as the Railway Reservoir Conservation Park, and eventually to the present site on the
Princes Highway.
Soccer: Since the arrival of many migrants
in Traralgon after the war, soccer has had a strong following. For a time, the Catterick
Crescent oval was used, but nowadays, it is mostly played at Harold Preston Park in
Davidson Street.
Basketball: Basketball has become very popular, and a modern centre in Garibaldi Street
provides facilities for local, State and National teams.
Netball: Courts at Agnes Brereton Reserve provide the venue for a keen army of netballers
during the winter months. A strong competition is conducted in conjunction with the
Gippsland Latrobe Valley Football League.
Hockey: Also has a strong following, and it too is played at Agnes Brereton Reserve.
Rugby, baseball, and athletics are also popular in the City.
Cycling: Cycling has been popular since the 1880s, and Traralgon has produced many fine
cyclists over the years.
References:
The River of Little Fish - William J. Cuthill 1970
From Squatter's Hut to City - W.A. Thompson and Jean Court, 1976
A History of Loy Yang, 1844-1978 - Kathleen M. Huffer, 1979 |
