Editing Traralgon (section)

==History==

Traralgon is situated on the traditional lands of the [[Indigenous Australians|Indigenous]] [[Gunai people|Gunai/Kurnai]] nation, which includes the lands of the [[Braiakaulung people|Braiakaulung]] clan of Bunjil Kraura, who lived to the north of [[Latrobe River]] (called ''Durt'yowan'' in [[Gunai language]]), as well as the clan of Woollum-Woollum, who lived on the hills to the south of the river and were more affiliated with the [[Brataualung people]].<ref>{{cite wikisource|wslink=Native_Tribes_of_South-East_Australia |chapter=Chapter_7|plaintitle=Native Tribes of South-East Australia|year=1904|page=393|last=Howitt |first=Alfred William }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Fesl |first1=Eve |author-link=Eve Fesl |title=Ganai: a study of the aboriginal languages of Gippsland based on 19th century materials |date=1985 |publisher=Monash University}}</ref>

[[Gunai people|Gunai/Kurnai people]] manufactured stone tools, as long as 5,000 years ago, from [[silcrete]] quarries in the Haunted Hills, west of [[Morwell, Victoria|Morwell]]. Scarred trees and rock sites with axe-grinding grooves are also found in the local area.<ref name="legg92">{{cite book |last1=Legg |first1=S M |title=Heart of the Valley: A History of the Morwell Municipality |date=1992 |publisher=City of Morwell}}</ref> The Gippsland region was inhabited by the Gunai/Kurnai people for a period in excess of 20,000 years, according to evidence of occupation found at the [[New Guinea II cave]] near [[Buchan, Victoria]].<ref>{{Cite book| title = Archaeology of the Dreamtime | last = Flood | first = Josephine | year = 2004 | publisher = J.B Publishing | location = Marleston | page = 25 | isbn = 1-876622-50-4 
}}</ref> In other parts of Victoria evidence of Indigenous occupation has been found for many more thousands of years.<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Moyjil site, south-west Victoria, Australia |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria |date=2018 |volume=130 |issue=2 |url=https://www.publish.csiro.au/rs/issue/9309}}</ref>

=== Expeditions ===

The first non-Indigenous visitors to the area of Traralgon included the party of [[Paweł Edmund Strzelecki|Count Paweł Strzelecki]] on their journey from the [[Snowy Mountains]] in April 1840, after Strzelecki had named Australia's highest peak as [[Mount Kosciuszko]]. Charley Tarra, a [[Gandangara|Burra Burra]] man from the NSW town of [[Taralga]], was the Indigenous guide for the party, which included Strzelecki; the New South Wales men James MacArthur and James Riley; and their servants, Irish convict James Nolan<ref>{{cite web |title=Sir Paul Edmund de Strzelecki Expedition |url=https://www.monumentaustralia.org.au/australian_monument/display/30900 |website=Monument Australia |access-date=18 August 2020}}</ref> and African convict John Rent.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Frew |first1=Ron |last2=Frew |first2=Catherine |title=Sounding the Ground: Nineteenth Century Journeys to Tumbarumba and the South East |date=2012|isbn=9780980653137}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Skurjat-Kozek |first1=Ernestyna |title=Strzelecki's team: pioneers of multiculturalism |url=http://www.zrobtosam.com/PulsPol/Puls3/index.php?sekcja=1&arty_id=19542 |website=Puls Polonii |access-date=18 August 2020}}</ref><ref name="legg92" />

The party crossed Latrobe River and travelled along Traralgon Creek to a heavily forested area, where the party was forced to abandon their horses and equipment. The location was commemorated by monument at Traralgon Creek, Koornalla, erected in 1927.<ref>{{cite web |title=Sir PauEdmund de Strzelecki Expedition |url=https://www.monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/landscape/exploration/display/31860-sir-paul-edmund-de-strzelecki-expedition |website=Monument Australia |access-date=18 August 2020}}</ref> The team's rations were reduced to a slice of bacon and a biscuit per day, but Tarra hunted for animals to end their hunger.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Smith |first1=Keith Vincent |title=Charley Tarra |url=https://www.eorapeople.com.au/uncategorized/charlie-tarra/ |website=Eora People |date=November 2017 |access-date=1 September 2020}}</ref> They traversed the headwaters of [[Morwell River]], before making a difficult journey across the heavily forested mountain range. They reached [[Samuel Anderson (Australian settler)|Anderson's]] run in [[Western Port]] in May 1840, then walked to Melbourne.<ref name="legg92" />

To honour the men, the mountain range was named the [[Strzelecki Ranges]], part of the forest was named Tarra Valley, later merged into [[Tarra-Bulga National Park]],<ref>{{cite web |title=History of the Park |url=https://friendsoftarrabulga.org.au/park-information/history/ |website=Friends of Tarra-Bulga National Park |date=6 March 2014 |access-date=1 September 2020}}</ref> and the river running from the valley to [[Port Albert]] was named [[Tarra River (Victoria)|Tarra River]]. Strzelecki named the region as Gipps' Land, later becoming [[Gippsland]], in honour of his sponsor [[Governor of New South Wales|NSW Governor]] [[George Gipps]].<ref name="legg92" />

In June 1840, a party consisting of Tarra, Riley, John Rutledge and [[Shoalhaven]] Indigenous man John Pigeon went on a second expedition to retrieve the lost horses and managed to retrieve one, by travelling through the mountains of West Gippsland, across a path that would roughly trace the present-day [[Princes Highway]]. A third expedition was made from Port Albert to Latrobe Valley in March 1841 that included [[William Adams Brodribb|William Brodribb]], Alexander Kinghorne, [[Norman McLeod (Australian politician)|Norman McLeod]] and Kirsopp with Tarra as their guide.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71614721 |title=THE PROGRESS OF DISCOVERY IN AUSTRALIA. |newspaper=[[Southern Australian]] |volume=IV |issue=212 |location=South Australia |date=1 June 1841 |access-date=7 October 2020 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> In June 1841, a fourth expedition was made along the same route by William's brother Albert Brodribb, pastoralist Edward Hobson, Dr Edward Barker and four [[Boon wurrung]] men.<ref name="legg92" /><ref>{{cite journal |title=Minor Explorations 1840 and 1841 |journal=The Morwell Historical Society News |date=15 August 1975 |page=16 |url=http://www.morwellhistoricalsociety.org.au/newsletters/Vol21963.pdf}}</ref>

=== Pastoral leases ===

The area around Traralgon was first settled by Europeans in the 1840s. Due to the [[Latrobe Valley]] having relatively high rainfall, the land is very fertile, and farming was quickly established. As with much of central and western Gippsland, this was mainly dairy farming. In the Gippsland region between 1840 and 1860, the population of settlers grew from a few to 2,000 and the recorded Gunai population fell from 2,000 to a handful.<ref name="legg92" />

The first Europeans to take land in Traralgon were the brothers Dr Edmund Hobson and Edward Hobson who purchased a 19,000 acre [[pastoral lease]] in 1844, which they called Traralgon. In April 1844, Edward to a large mob of cattle out from their station near [[Arthur's Seat]] to Traralgon arriving two months later. Albert Brodribb and William Bennett started Hazelwood Station in 1844 and the following year James Rintoul had taken a run in Loy Yang and Thomas Gorringe had taken up a run at Maryvale.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Power |first1=J F |title=Traralgon: A Brief Introductory History (Circa 1995) |url=https://www.traralgonhistory.asn.au/history.htm |website=Traralgon & District Historical Society Inc. |access-date=18 August 2020}}</ref>

=== Township established ===
The township was established in the early 1860s, the first Post Office opening on 1 January 1861.<ref name="a">{{Citation | last = Phoenix Auctions History | title = Post Office List | url = http://www.phoenixauctions.com.au/cgi-bin/wsPhoenix.sh/Viewpocdwrapper.p?SortBy=VIC&filter=*Traralgon* | access-date = 21 January 2021 }}</ref> In 1877 the [[Gippsland railway line]] from [[Melbourne]] was completed with a [[Traralgon railway station|railway station]] at Traralgon giving the town a major economic boost.

Traralgon was part of the area administered by the Rosedale Roads Board, before the [[Shire of Traralgon]] was established in 1879. In the latter part of the 19th century the Shire grew strongly.
[[Image:Traralgon Post Office.jpg|thumb|alt=Traralgon Post Office|right|The current Post Office building, a local landmark, was completed in 1886]]
It was not until the 1930s however that Traralgon began to move away from a farming based economy. In 1939, [[Amcor|Australian Paper Manufacturers]] established a paper mill at Maryvale, around {{convert|8|km|mi|0}} from Traralgon.<ref>[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/63268400 Maryvale Paper Mill] ''[[Gippsland Times]]'' 25 September 1939 page 3</ref>

Queen [[Elizabeth II]] and [[Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh]] visited on 3 March 1954. The president of the Shire of Traralgon, Cr Clem Little met and welcomed the Queen, who was flown by the [[Royal Australian Air Force]] from [[Sale, Victoria|Sale]]. She returned to Melbourne by train.<ref>Chapter 7 [http://www.traralgonhistory.asn.au/rolf/chapter7.htm The River of Little Fish by WJ Cuthill]</ref>

In 1961, Traralgon formed its own borough, the [[City of Traralgon|Borough of Traralgon]] following a decade of lobbying to separate the urban areas of Traralgon from the Shire. Traralgon was proclaimed a city in 1964.

The old town hall and mechanics institute were demolished in 1973.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.traralgonhistory.asn.au/mechanics.htm |title=Traralgon Mechanics Institute |access-date=2012-06-20 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324181853/http://traralgonhistory.asn.au/mechanics.htm |archive-date=24 March 2012}}</ref>

Further development resulted from the expansion of the [[Energy in Victoria|power generation industry]] following World War II, particularly through the now defunct [[State Electricity Commission of Victoria]]. This included large expansions at [[Yallourn Power Station|Yallourn]] and [[Hazelwood Power Station|Hazelwood]] Power Stations and the construction of the massive [[Loy Yang Power Station]] in the 1970s and 1980s.

An [[Australian Securities & Investments Commission]] information processing centre was established in the early 1990s, at the time employing around 400 people.{{cn|date=January 2023}}

The City of Traralgon and Shire of Traralgon continued a separate existence until they were amalgamated into the Shire of Latrobe in 1994.

Completion of the Loy Yang power stations, extensive voluntary departures{{Vague|date=March 2011}} from the electricity industry and privatisation of the Victorian electricity industry in the early 1990s had devastating effects on the economy of the [[Latrobe Valley]]. Traralgon, with a more diversified economy, suffered to a lesser extent than the neighbouring towns of [[Morwell, Victoria|Morwell]] and [[Moe, Victoria|Moe]] both of which relied almost exclusively on the power stations for their livelihood.

Traralgon grew strongly in the mid 2000s, with a figure of 2.7% making it the largest and fastest growing city in the Latrobe Valley.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.latrobe.vic.gov.au/MediaRoom/NewsReleases/Details/Default.aspx?PrintFriendly=1&NewsID=769 |title=Latrobe City Council - Details |access-date=2010-04-29 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614054826/http://www.latrobe.vic.gov.au/MediaRoom/NewsReleases/Details/Default.aspx?PrintFriendly=1&NewsID=769 |archive-date=14 June 2011}}</ref>

===Heritage listings===
Traralgon contains a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
* 161–165 Franklin Street: [[Traralgon Post Office and Court House]]<ref name=ahd-106141>{{cite AHD|106141|Traralgon Post Office|fn=2/10/275/0014|access-date=9 March 2019}}</ref>
* Queens Parade: [[Traralgon Engine Shed and Turntable]]<ref>{{cite web | url=https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/12528 | title=Traralgon Engine Shed and Turntable | publisher=Victorian Heritage Council | work=Victorian Heritage Database (Victorian Heritage Register) | access-date=9 March 2019}}</ref>
* Victory Park, Mill Street: [[Azarole Hawthorn Tree, Traralgon|Azarole Hawthorn Tree]]<ref>{{cite web | url=https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/55874 | title=Azarole Hawthorn Tree | publisher=Victorian Heritage Council | work=Victorian Heritage Database (Victorian Heritage Register) | access-date=9 March 2019}}</ref>