Traralgon

The first non-Indigenous visitors to the area of Traralgon included the party of Count Paweł Strzelecki on their journey from the Snowy Mountains in April 1840, after Strzelecki had named Australia's highest peak as Mount Kosciuszko. Charley Tarra, a Burra Burra man from the NSW town of Taralga, was the Indigenous guide for the party, which included Strzelecki; the New South Wales men James MacArthur and James Riley; and their servants, Irish convict James Nolan[12] and African convict John Rent.[13][14][9]

The party crossed Latrobe River and travelled along Traralgon Creek to a heavily forested area, where the party was forced to abandon their horses and equipment. The location was commemorated by monument at Traralgon Creek, Koornalla, erected in 1927.[15] The team's rations were reduced to a slice of bacon and a biscuit per day, but Tarra hunted for animals to end their hunger.[16] They traversed the headwaters of Morwell River, before making a difficult journey across the heavily forested mountain range. They reached Anderson's run in Western Port in May 1840, then walked to Melbourne.[9]

To honour the men, the mountain range was named the Strzelecki Ranges, part of the forest was named Tarra Valley, later merged into Tarra-Bulga National Park,[17] and the river running from the valley to Port Albert was named Tarra River. Strzelecki named the region as Gipps' Land, later becoming Gippsland, in honour of his sponsor NSW Governor George Gipps.[9]

In June 1840, a party consisting of Tarra, Riley, John Rutledge and Shoalhaven Indigenous man John Pigeon went on a second expedition to retrieve the lost horses and managed to retrieved one, by travelling through the mountains of West Gippsland, across a path that would roughly trace the present-day Princes Highway. A third expedition was made from Port Albert to Latrobe Valley in March 1841 that included William Brodribb, Alexander Kinghorne, Norman McLeod and Kirsopp with Tarra as their guide.[18] In June 1841, a fourth expedition was made along the same route by William's brother Albert Brodribb, pastoralist Edward Hobson, Dr Edward Barker and four Boon wurrung men.[9][19]

The area around Traralgon was first settled by Europeans in the 1840s. Due to the Latrobe Valley having relatively high rainfall, the land is very fertile, and farming was quickly established. As with much of central and western Gippsland, this was mainly dairy farming. In the Gippsland region between 1840 and 1860, the population of settlers grew from a few to 2,000 and the recorded Gunai population fell from 2,000 to a handful.[9]

The first Europeans to take land in Traralgon were the brothers Dr Edmund Hobson and Edward Hobson who purchased 19,000 acre pastoral lease in 1844, which they called Traralgon. In April 1844, Edward to a large mob of cattle out from their station near Arthur's Seat to Traralgon arriving two months later. Albert Brodribb and William Bennett started Hazelwood Station in 1844 and the following year James Rintoul had taken a run in Loy Yang and Thomas Gorringe had taken up a run at Maryvale.[20]

The township was established in the early 1860s, the first Post Office opening on 1 January 1861.[21]

In 1877 the railway line from Melbourne was completed with a railway station at Traralgon giving the town a major economic boost.

Traralgon was part of the area administered by the Rosedale Roads Board, before the Shire of Traralgon was established in 1879. In the latter part of the 19th century the Shire grew strongly.

The current Post Office building, a local landmark, was completed in 1886

It was not until the 1930s however that Traralgon began to move away from a farming based economy. In 1936 Australian Paper Manufacturers established a paper mill at Maryvale, around 8 kilometres (5 mi) from Traralgon.

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh visited on 3 March 1954. The president of the Shire of Traralgon, Cr Clem Little met and welcomed the Queen, who was flown by the Royal Australian Air Force from Sale. She returned to Melbourne by train.[22]

In 1960 Traralgon's most famous son Sir Macfarlane Burnet jointly won the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine.

In 1961 Traralgon formed its own borough, the Borough of Traralgon following a decade of lobbying to separate the urban areas of Traralgon from the Shire.

Traralgon was proclaimed a city in 1964.

The old town hall and mechanics institute were demolished in 1973.[23]

Further development resulted from the expansion of the power generation industry following World War II, particularly through the now defunct State Electricity Commission of Victoria. This included large expansions at Yallourn and Hazelwood Power Stations and the construction of the massive Loy Yang Power Station in the 1970s and 1980s.

The first Loy Yang power station was completed in 1985.

An Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) information processing centre was established in the early 1990s, at the time employing around 400 people.

The City of Traralgon and Shire of Traralgon continued a separate existence until they were amalgamated into the Shire of Latrobe in 1994.

Completion of the Loy Yang power stations, extensive voluntary departures from the electricity industry and privatisation of the Victorian electricity industry in the early 1990s had devastating effects on the economy of the Latrobe Valley. Traralgon, with a more diversified economy, suffered to a lesser extent than the neighbouring towns of Morwell and Moe both of which relied almost exclusively on the power stations for their livelihood.

Traralgon grew strongly in the mid 2000s, with a figure of 2.7% making it the largest and fastest growing city in the Latrobe Valley.[24]

Traralgon contains a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

• 161-165 Franklin Street: Traralgon Post Office and Court House[25]
• Queens Parade: Traralgon Engine Shed and Turntable[26]
• Victory Park, Mill Street: Azarole Hawthorn Tree[27]

Stockland Traralgon in the CBD

Traralgon is part of the Latrobe Valley tri-city urban area, a small area of industry and agricultural land separates it from neighbouring Morwell. Traralgon together with adjacent Morwell forms an urban area with an estimated population of 41,984 as at June 2018.[28] In the five years prior, the urban area had experienced a modest average annual growth in population of 0.5%.[28] The Traralgon portion the combined Morwell area had a population of 27,958,[2] also at June 2018. Greater Traralgon includes localities such as Traralgon, the suburb of Traralgon East and the relatively sparsely populated satellite localities of Hazelwood and Traralgon South to the south, and Tyers and Glengarry to the north.

The Traralgon central business district is centred around Seymour and Franklin Streets. An indoor shopping mall called Stockland Traralgon was opened in 1985 as Traralgon Centre Plaza, but renamed after the acquisition by Stockland in 2003.[29] Commercial and light industry sprawl along most of the eastern stretch of the Princes Highway. Notable heritage buildings include the Post Office and Courthouse erected in 1886 and Ryans Hotel erected in 1914, both in Franklin Street.

Australian rules football GFL match in 2010 between Traralgon and Moe

Australian rules football is popular. There are two senior clubs, the Traralgon Maroons (which briefly competed in the Victorian Football League between 1996–1997) currently competing in the Gippsland Football League and Traralgon-Tyers United competing in the North Gippsland Football League. There is also a junior league, Traralgon and District Junior Football League, with most games played from the West End Sporting Complex.

Cricket is also popular, with a local league, the Traralgon and District Cricket Association (TDCA) operating.

Soccer is represented by two clubs - Traralgon City and Traralgon Olympians - who both play in the Latrobe Valley Soccer League. The Victorian regional leagues are the eighth level of soccer in Victoria, and the ninth nationally. The home grounds are Harold Preston Reserve and Harold Preston Park respectively.

There is a local basketball league, the Traralgon Basketball Association with a stadium at the Traralgon Sports Complex. The Traralgon Sports Stadium played host to preliminary round games of the Basketball competition during the 2006 Commonwealth Games which were held in Melbourne.

The local baseball team is the Traralgon Redsox. www.traralgon.baseball.com.au

Traralgon has a horse racing club, the Latrobe Valley Racing Club, which schedules two race meetings a year including the Cup meeting in December.[31]

The Traralgon Greyhound Racing Club holds regular meetings at Glenview Park.[32]

Golfers play at the course of the Traralgon Golf Club on the Princes Highway.[33]

The Traralgon Harriers are a running club that runs 5 or 6 km races every Thursday night and also organise Victoria's oldest marathon, the Traralgon Marathon, held every June.[34]

The Latrobe Valley Cycling club hold road and track racing events on most weeks throughout the year.

Traralgon Pistol Club and Traralgon small bore rifle Club also located in the town with a healthy membership at both clubs.

The entertainment precinct which spans Kay, Grey and Franklin Streets attracts people from surrounding towns to several nightclubs, bars and restaurants located there.

The twice weekly Latrobe Valley Express newspaper is delivered to all homes on Monday and Thursday nights, in Traralgon, Morwell and Moe. Smaller, weekly papers the Traralgon Journal, Moe and Narracan News, along with the Morwell and Churchill Advertiser are delivered to all homes on Monday nights with The Latrobe Valley Express. The Traralgon Record newspaper has been digitised from 1886 to 1932 as part of the Australian Newspapers Digitisation Program.[35]

Melbourne Newspapers such as The Weekly Times, The Age and the Herald Sun and national newspapers like The Australian and the Australian Financial Review are also available.

The three main commercial television networks (Seven, Nine and Ten) are all re-broadcast in the Latrobe Valley by their regional affiliates – Prime7 (Seven), WIN Television (Ten) and Nine Traralgon. The area was the first in Australia to receive its own regional television station, GLV-10 Gippsland (now Southern Cross Nine), when it launched on 9 December 1961.

Of the three main commercial networks:

• WIN Television airs a half-hour local WIN News each weeknight at 6pm, produced from a newsroom in the city and broadcast from studios in Wollongong.
• Southern Cross Nine airs a regional Victoria edition of Nine News from Melbourne each weeknight at 6pm, featuring opt-outs for Gippsland.
• Prime7 airs short local news and weather updates throughout the day, produced and broadcast from its Canberra studios.

Television transmissions from Mount Dandenong for the Melbourne market (Seven, Nine and Ten) can also be received in digital in Traralgon with a suitable roof-top antenna.

New channels broadcast by the commercial networks in addition to the ones listed above are available on the digital service called Freeview (Australia) to viewers in Traralgon and the Gippsland/Latrobe Valley region. These channels include One HD, Eleven, 7Two, 7mate, GEM and GO!.

Both national public broadcasters, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (including channels ABC1, ABC2, ABC3 & ABC News 24) and Special Broadcasting Service (including SBS One & SBS Two), are also broadcast to the Latrobe Valley.

Subscription television service Foxtel (previously Austar until 2014) is available via satellite.

There are two radio stations with studios located in Traralgon – TRFM and Gold 1242, both owned by Ace Radio. The FM station is broadcast along with the television channels from Mount Tassie while Gold 1242 is broadcast from an AM transmitter near Sale. Warragul radio stations Star FM and 3GG also service this region. Most Australian Broadcasting Corporation stations are rebroadcast locally and available in Traralgon, along with 774 ABC Melbourne which is able to be received directly from Melbourne.

Traralgon experiences an oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification Cfb). Nights in Traralgon are about 2 °C colder than in Melbourne[40]