Briagolong

Overview

Briagolong is situated on open Red-Gum plains at the foothills of the Victorian High Country and under three hours drive from Melbourne.
 
The town's principal industry has been timber, and it supplied red gum paving blocks for Melbourne's streets, and stringybark for the flooring at Australia House in London. Today, the principal industries are honey production and fruit growing.

Possibly the best-known building in the town is the Briagolong Mechanics' Institute.  The Institute houses a large and original library, with the last book being added in 1956. It has officially been recognised as the most complete example of an early Mechanics' Institute library in the state.

History

The naming of this now historic village occurred in 1871 soon after the opening of the town's original school with the settlers remembering the once powerful Briaikulong Clan of Gippsland Gunai (Aborigines) who were the 'men of the west'.  The first Europeans to enter the realm of the Gunai were those who ventured south with Gippsland's pioneer explorer Angus McMillan in 1840.

In 1868 a gold rush into the secluded reaches of the Freestone Creek occurred and hundreds of miners arrived in search of the illusive metal. Two rough gold mining townships were soon christened, with their grog shanties, butcher's shops and rude accommodation houses.

The disastrous bushfires of Christmas Day 1868 razed these towns but gold mining continued for many years afterwards.  It was not long before a village was established with many of the buildings constructed of red gum timber cut nearby at William Forbes Victoria Saw Mills which, at the time, were the largest in Gippsland.

Places of interest

Briagolong Mechanics Institute
Freestone Creek Gorge and Blue Pool
Red gum bordered roads
Quarry Reserve
The Great Dividing Range

Accommodation

Briagolong offers high country-style cottages and camping within close range of the town. For further information please visit:

Tourism Wellington
http://www.tourismwellington.com.au/accommodation.asp

Wellington Visitor Information Centre
8 Foster Street (Princes Highway), Sale
Open: 7 days a week 9.00am-5.00pm
Telephone: 03 5144 1108
Email: admin@tourismwellington.com.au

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