Shire of Yea

The Shire of Yea was a local government area about 110 kilometres (68 mi) northeast of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The shire covered an area of 1,392.32 square kilometres (537.6 sq mi), and existed from 1869 until 1994. The shire's population was dominated by the town of Yea.

History

Yea was first incorporated as a road district on 1 February 1869, and became a shire on 28 November 1873.

Its boundaries changed a number of times throughout its existence:

The Shire was described in the 1949 Australian Blue Book as an elevated area given to pastoral and dairying pursuits, along with sheep and cattle grazing. By 1994, 51% of Yea's land was under cultivation as farmland, with the Kinglake National Park and Yea River Regional Park as well as the Murrindindi Forest, the latter being important to Yea's economy for timber production, accounting for much of the rest.