Our History

Baw Baw plateau, land of mysteries

The High Country of Victoria lends itself to the creation of myths and mysteries. There are many unexplained disappearances of people in that huge area but there are many other mysteries that might be less dramatic but almost as important. Just...

The Gazette

1 hour ago

Our History

Snapshot of the past

A photograph of Bert Currie’s bullock team pulling the old Lardner Hall along Burnt Store Rd in 1926. At a meeting of the Lardner Mechanics Trustees in April 1925, a tender was accepted from W. Brown for the erection of a new hall. It was also...

The Gazette

25 Mar 2025

Our History

Taking the long way home

In last week’s story I was doing another trip down memory lane, which always feels a little self-indulgent, but so be it. I talked abut travelling to and from Longwarry State School from our dairy farm at the railway line end of Hammond Rd. I also...

The Gazette

20 Mar 2025

Our History

Snapshot of the past - Ficifolia Festival

A photograph of the Ficifolia Festival promotional sign at Drouin in about 2000. The signage shows the iconic importance of the flowering gums, officially named “Corymbia Ficifolia”, to Drouin residents. Although Ficifolias have a clear association...

The Gazette

18 Mar 2025

Our History

Taking the long way to school

When we walked from the farm to the Longwarry State School we didn’t really take the long way but we could make the two miles or so take a very long time. I remember quite clearly going to school for the first time, in 1951. I was quite looking...

The Gazette

11 Mar 2025

Our History

Snapshot of the past

A photograph capturing the McNeilly family’s Bhutan Cypress driveway at the intersection of McNeilly and Albert roads in Drouin. This significant avenue of trees, consisting of about 160 Bhutan Cypress (Cupressus torulosa) planted in an “L” shape...

The Gazette

11 Mar 2025

Our History

Sinking of the Iron Crown

There were three ships sunk off the Gippsland coast during World War Two. There also was also the City of Rayville, the first American ship sunk in WW2, she went down on November 28, 1940, almost exactly a year before the attack on Pearl Harbour...

The Gazette

07 Mar 2025

Our History

Snapshot of the past

An aerial photograph capturing the area south of the Drouin railway crossing in 1944. The livestock yards, captured in the middle of the photograph, were in close proximity to the Drouin Railway Station. The Royal Hotel is to the right. Of note is the...

The Gazette

07 Mar 2025

Our History

The history behind park names

People asking for our traditional place names to be changed to Aboriginal place names will be comfortable with the names of the three big national parks at the pointy end of Gippsland. There are three National Parks in East Gippsland with Aboriginal...

The Gazette

25 Feb 2025

Our History

Snapshot of the past - Russell and Son Pty Ltd

A photograph of Russell and Son Pty Ltd garage in Main St, Drouin in the late 1940s. William Durie Russell started on the site as a blacksmith, coach builder and wheelwright in 1890, eventually transforming it to a car dealership and garage. Just...

The Gazette

25 Feb 2025

Our History

Snapshot of the past

A photograph of Drouin nurse Kate Ethel Hearn standing outside her home “Thorney” at 144 Princes Way in the early 1900s. Kate opened “Thorney” - located opposite the primary school site - as a private hospital. Kate was born in St Arnaud in 1878 to...

The Gazette

19 Feb 2025

Our History

Snapshot of the past

Jim Fitzpatrick’s 1944 series of photos of Drouin includes two of women from the Women’s Land Army working at the Drouin Flax Mill. In 1942 Australia’s farmers were struggling. The countryside emptied as young men enlisted to fight in the war and...

The Gazette

12 Feb 2025

Our History

The single copper wire

Most of us know about the Overland Telegraph between Adelaide and Darwin. We don’t all realise that it was built in three stages, beginning with the middle section for some reason I have never found out. The contractors had to deal with a lack of...

The Gazette

11 Feb 2025

Our History

Snapshot of the past - 1944 Drouin: A Small Town at War

This ‘staged’ photograph from the ‘1944 Drouin: A Small Town at War’ collection of photos taken by Jim Fitzpatrick, shows Arthur Holmes the Chairman of the War Agricultural Committee for Central Gippsland with its headquarters in Drouin. The photo...

The Gazette

05 Feb 2025

Our History

Snapshot of the past

In January 1966, Warragul’s ornate old brick post office came tumbling down to make way for a new brick office. The photograph shows the first stages of demolition as the roof was removed from the old Warragul Post Office. The wreckers – Harris...

The Gazette

28 Jan 2025

Our History

Rail lines and timber yards

This column has carried the story of the Gippsland railway before. It has covered the history of almost every mile of track, open and closed. There is always, though, something more to be learned. Always. It is 40 years this year since the township...

The Gazette

28 Jan 2025

Our History

A feat of endurance

At noon on Monday, January 24, 1836 the summer silence of Western Port was broken by the rattle of anchor chains and shouts of command. The 300-ton barque’Norval’, under Captain Coltish, wasanchoring off Sandy Point. She carried a cargo of sheep for...

The Gazette

28 Jan 2025

Our History

120 years of croquet

Warragul Croquet Club will celebrate its 120th anniversary this Saturday. The anniversary will be celebrated with an open day from 10am to 3pm on Saturday. The day provides an opportunity for community members to go along and try croquet in a casual...

The Gazette

26 Nov 2024

Our History

Snapshot of the past

A photograph featuring Harold Higgs who is one of Drouin’s World War I heroes. Harold, on the right, is captured alongside some of his regiment in July 1917, presumably whilst on leave from the fighting. Harold was born June 5, 1890, the fifth child...

The Gazette

15 Jan 2025