Set on the junction of the Western, Wimmera and Henty highways, the Wimmera 'capital' serves the local sheep and wheat industries, that later being reliant upon the Federation strain of high-yield, drought resistant wheat helped underpin the region's prosperity. Visit Horsham
Location: 300km north-west of Melbourne. Map
Origin of name: recorded as 'Australia Felix' by Major Sir Thomas Mitchell in 1836 as he saw it after rain. Its Aboriginal name was Wopetbungundiler. The district was known as Bongambilor, meaning 'place of flowers'. When James Darlot leased land near the Wimmera River in the 1840s he named the area Horsham after a holiday visit to the Sussex town of Horsham in England.
Brief history: the Jardwa and Wotjobaluk Aborigines were the region's original occupants. White settlers first moved into the area in 1840s. Robert O'Hara Burke & William John Wills pass through on their ill-fated journey to Central Australia. Conneced by rail to Melbourne in 1789. George Langlands was encouraged by Darlot to establish a store, Horsham's first. Development of irrigation in 1890s saw it's economy established.
Natural features: Wimmera River; Four lakes - Dock, Green, Pine and Taylors; Little Desert National Park; The Grampians.
Built features: Horsham Art Gallery, Longerenong Agricultural College
Heritage features: Art gallery & Historical Museum; 'Wonwondah South' homestead (c.1854)
Wimmera River