Whereas Morwell and Moe are industrial centres focussed on the brown coal mines, Traralgon, also in the Latrobe Valley, is focused on the agriculture of the region. Industry of the town and surrounding area includes dairy and sheep farming, fruit growing, limestone quarrying and the manufacture of building materials.
Location: 166 km east of Melbourne on the Princes Highway. Map
Origin of name: of Aboriginal origin, said to be a phrase describing cranes eating frogs.
Brief history: in April 1844, Edward William Hobson went out from his family's station near Arthur's Seat, with a large mob of cattle, travelling via Tarwin and South Gippsland, to reach the run. During the next year, 1845, other settlers began to move into the area. In 1854, James Purves sold the West Traralgon run to Duncan Campbell. Four years later, Duncan built a hotel and for 60 years it served the people of the district as Post Office, store, Court House and Church. When the Sale to Drouin railway line was extended to Maffra, the repair shops and Locomotive Depot were moved from Sale to Traralgon. They remained in service until the 1960s and provided hundreds of jobs over the years. In the Depression years they were the main source of employment in the town.
Natural features: The Haunted Hills; Toms Cap; Mount Carmel; Latrobe River
Built features: Loy Yang Power Station
Heritage features: Traralgon Hotel (1914)