Wallan, Victoria

Wallan ⁱ/ˈwɒlən/, traditionally known as Wallan Wallan, is a town in Victoria, 50 kilometres (31 mi) from Melbourne on the Northern Highway in Australia. The town sits at the southern end of the large and diverse Shire of Mitchell which extends from the northern fringes of Melbourne into the farming country of north-central Victoria and the lower Goulburn Valley. The township flanks the Northern Highway and is set against the backdrop of the Great Dividing Range. At the 2011 census, Wallan had a population of 7,811.

Overview

The fastest growing town and now largest town in the shire, Wallan is a link between the city and rural towns such as Kilmore, Broadford and Seymour. 15 kilometres to the north is a turnoff to Strath Creek which leads through the Valley of a Thousand Hills.

History

A Wallan Wallan Post Office opened on 1 April 1858. A Wallan Railway Station Post Office opened on 1 October 1873, later renamed as Wallan Wallan East and closing in 1992.

The first and only surviving store was begun by Hugh and Margaret Sinclair about 1860 with their 2 storey residence. In 1867 Thomas O'Dwyer began a store where the Wallan Hotel now stands. He converted the store to the Woodmans Arms Hotel in 1883. George Wallder and John Kyle supplied meat to the township. The first church erected in Wallan was a wooden building at cost 71 pounds and was opened by the Methodist residents in 1865. Wallan became part of the preaching circuit in 1864 and the following year the modest chapel was built.