Drouin is a town in the

West Gippsland West Gippsland, a region of Gippsland in Victoria, Australia, extends from the southeastern limits of metropolitan Melbourne and Western Port Bay in the west to the Latrobe Valley in the east, and is bounded by the Strzelecki Ranges to the south ...

region, east of

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, in the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. Its local government area is the

Shire of Baw Baw The Shire of Baw Baw is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, in the eastern part of the state. It covers an area of and in June 2018 had a population of 52,015. It includes the towns of Drouin, Longwarry, Neerim South, Trafalgar, W ...

, and is home to the shire council’s headquarters despite being the second-largest town in the shire, behind neighbouring

Warragul Warragul is a town in Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne. Warragul lies between the Strzelecki Ranges to the south and the Mount Baw Baw Plateau of the Great Dividing Range to the north. As of the , the town had a population of 19,85 ...

. The town’s name is believed to be an Aboriginal word meaning "north wind". New housing developments have accelerated the town's residential growth in recent years. As at the , Drouin had a population of people.

History

Settlement in this part of Gippsland was rather delayed due to the dense forest.

Pastoral run A pastoral lease, sometimes called a pastoral run, is an arrangement used in both Australia and New Zealand where government-owned Crown land is leased out to graziers for the purpose of livestock grazing on rangelands. Australia Pastoral lea ...

s were taken up but little developed. In 1867, a coaching station was established on the track into Gippsland at Brandy Creek, about north-east of present Drouin. By the early 1870s, a small settlement had developed and land was being selected in the area. A post office opened on 5 April 1876, later renamed to Jindivick in 1878. Between 1877 and 1879, the

Gippsland railway line The Gippsland line (also known as the Orbost railway line) is a railway line serving the Latrobe Valley and Gippsland regions of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. It runs east from the state capital Melbourne through the cities of Moe, ...

was constructed, connecting Melbourne with Gippsland. Workers' camps were set up along the route which passed to the south of Brandy Creek, with three camps in the vicinity of Drouin. After the Brandy Creek rail section opened in 1878, a township was surveyed at Drouin Junction, soon known as Drouin. A post office named Drouin Junction opened on 1 January 1877 and was renamed Drouin in 1878. As Drouin developed, Brandy Creek, now called Buln Buln, had declined. When the Buln Buln Shire was formed in 1878, the administrative centre was located in Drouin. The new Tourists' Guide described the township in 1889, showing its substantial development. Throughout the 1880s, a number of small sawmills operated in the Drouin district, many transporting their timber by tramway to the

Drouin railway station Drouin railway station is located in Drouin, Victoria along the Gippsland railway line. It opened on 1 March 1878.

. In the 1890s, a quarry was opened south-east of Drouin, the stone being carried by tramway to a railway siding east of Drouin. In 1913, this quarry was purchased and operated by the shire. Aerial view of Drouin 1944 6

As land was cleared,

dairy farming Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or ...

became the main industry. Initially, butter and cheese were made on the farm. A creamery operated from 1891 to 1895 and in 1904 a co-operative butter factory was established at Drouin. When this factory was extended in 1907, an electric light plant was installed which also provided light for the streets and homes of Drouin. The factory supplied fresh milk to the Melbourne market from 1915. Over the years, the company acquired other dairy companies and enlarged its own operation, producing

casein Casein ( , from Latin ''caseus'' "cheese") is a family of related phosphoproteins (CSN1S1, αS1, aS2, CSN2, β, K-casein, κ) that are commonly found in mammalian milk, comprising about 80% of the proteins in cow's milk and between 20% and 60% of ...

, skim milk and butter-oil as well as butter and cheese. It became part of the Bonlac company (now

Fonterra Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited is a New Zealand multinational publicly traded dairy co-operative owned by around 9,000 New Zealand farmers. The company is responsible for approximately 30% of the world's dairy exports and with revenue exce ...

) which later closed it down, removing the town's biggest employer.

Flax Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. Textiles made from flax are known in ...

was grown around Drouin during the two world wars. A private factory operated for a while and in 1941, the government constructed a factory to manufacture

canvas Canvas is an extremely durable plain-woven fabric used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, shelters, as a support for oil painting and for other items for which sturdiness is required, as well as in such fashion objects as handbags ...

goods for military use. The town has progressed steadily. In 1904, the population was 700. By 1933, there were just over 1,000 inhabitants and by 1970, 2,750. From the 1970s, the subdivision of an industrial estate on the south-east edge of the town had encouraged the growth of light industry. A number of housing subdivisions have also been initiated, as well as rural residential subdivision on the fringes of the town. The construction of a freeway bypassing Drouin allowed the remodelling of the shopping centre. By 1981, the population was 3,492 and in 1991 was 4,100. The Victorian Municipal Directory described the town in 1994. The town forms part of a combined urban area that includes

. The estimated urban population for this area was 37,928 Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. at June 2018, having grown on average 3.26% year-on-year for the preceding five years.

Community

Drouin holds an annual Ficofolia Festival. Ficifolia are the flowering gum trees which occur throughout the town. This celebration includes the town gathering in the main street of Drouin and watching the local schools and participating businesses showcase who they are and what they do. Every year there is a theme which participants in the festival are encouraged to incorporate into their float or costumes. The participants of the parade begin from the Drouin Football Oval, through the main street, and finish at Drouin Civic Park. Here, the town continues its celebration with bands playing in the park, food trucks, rides, market stalls, and finishes with a movie in the park and fireworks. The town has a

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

team, Drouin Dragons Soccer Club, playing in the

Gippsland Soccer League Gippsland is a rural regions of Victoria, region that makes up the southeastern part of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, mostly comprising the coastal plains to the rainward (southern) side of the Victorian Alps (the southernmost secti ...

. The town has an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

team playing in the

Gippsland Football League The Gippsland League (formerly known as the West Gippsland Latrobe Football League) is an Australian rules football and netball league in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. It is considered the only AFL Victoria major league in Gippsla ...

. Drouin has a picnic horse-racing club, the Drouin Picnic Racing Club, which holds two race meetings a year with the Drouin Cup on

Boxing Day Boxing Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December). Though it originated as a holiday to give gifts to the poor, today Boxing Day is primarily known as a shopping holiday. It ...

(26 December). The racecourse is set on a golf course. Golfers play at the Drouin Golf and Country Club on Mcglones Road. Since 1989, Drouin's

sister city A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inter ...

has been

Barrhead, Alberta Barrhead is a town in central Alberta, Canada that is surrounded by the County of Barrhead No. 11. It is located along the Paddle River and at the intersection of Highway 33 (Grizzly Trail) and Highway 18, approximately northwest of the Cit ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Retail

Drouin's large retail stores include a

Woolworths supermarket Woolworths Supermarkets (colloquially known in Australia as "Woolies") is an Australian chain of supermarkets and grocery stores owned by Woolworths Group. Founded in 1924, Woolworths today is Australia's biggest supermarket chain with a mar ...

and a

Coles supermarket Coles Supermarkets Australia Pty Ltd, trading as Coles, is an Australian supermarket, retail and consumer services chain, headquartered in Melbourne as part of the Coles Group. Founded in 1914 in Collingwood by George Coles, Coles operates ...

. Other businesses in the town include fast food businesses, hairdressers, restaurants,

Tattersall's Tattersalls (formerly Tattersall's) is the main auctioneer of race horses in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Founding It was founded in 1766 by Richard Tattersall (1724–1795), who had been stud groom to the second Duke of Kingston. T ...

, and

Westpac Bank Westpac Banking Corporation, known simply as Westpac, is an Australian multinational banking and financial services company headquartered at Westpac Place in Sydney, New South Wales. Established in 1817 as the Bank of New South Wales, it ...

. Several of the local businesses have relocated in recent times from the southern side of the shopping precinct on Princes Way (next to the railway station), due to land acquisition for the construction of a multistory retail shopping complex. Abbey's Cafe closed down, and the long-standing Drouin Cycles moved to a location on the other side of Princes Way.

Local media

Newspapers

Drouin is serviced by three local papers—the weekly ''Warragul and Drouin Gazette'', ''The Trader'' and the independent monthly and online paper the ''Warragul & Baw Baw Citizen''. According to the Warragul Regional Newspapers website, The ''Gazette'' and ''The Trader'' are distributed to locations from as far as Pakenham to

Moe Moe, MOE, MoE or m.o.e. may refer to: In arts and entertainment Characters * Moe Szyslak, from the animated television show ''The Simpsons'' * Moe, leader of The Three Stooges, played by Moe Howard * Moe Higurashi, supporting character in ''Yash ...

and from Poowong to

Noojee Noojee is a town in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia, north of Warragul and east of Melbourne, in the Baw Baw local government area. At the 2016 census, Noojee and the surrounding area had a population of 157. The town benefits from ...

. ''The Warragul Citizen'' was established in 2011 as a quarterly print paper before becoming bimonthly in 2012, covering Warragul, Drouin and Yarragon. The paper's online news offering started in late 2011 and covers all of Baw Baw. The paper moved to being online-only in 2013, printing its last physical edition in February. It returned to print as a monthly tabloid covering all of Baw Baw in July 2014, changing its name to the ''Warragul & Baw Baw Citizen''.

Radio

West Gippsland Community Radio (3BBR)
is based in Drouin. The radio reception available in Drouin also includes many of the Melbourne commercial stations (such as 105.1 Triple M,

Smooth 91.5 Smooth 91.5 (call sign: 3PTV) is a commercial radio station based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The station is owned by Nova Entertainment along with her sister station, Nova 100, and currently plays easy listening songs from the late-195 ...

3AW 3AW is a talkback radio station based in Melbourne. It broadcasts on 693 kHz AM. It began transmission on 22 February 1932 as Melbourne's fifth commercial radio station. The station is owned and operated by Nine Entertainment Co. Hist ...

693,

Nova 100 Nova 100 (call sign: 3MEL) is a commercial radio station in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, broadcasting on 100.3 MHz. The station is owned by NOVA Entertainment along with sister station, smoothfm 91.5. History Nova 100 commenced on th ...

), ABC broadcasters (

774 ABC Melbourne ABC Radio Melbourne (official callsign: 3LO) is an ABC Local Radio station in Melbourne, Australia. It began transmission on 13 October 1924, and was Melbourne's second licensed radio station after 3AR. Most Local Radio stations in Victoria sim ...

, 96.7

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greate ...

and 100.7

ABC Gippsland ABC Gippsland (call sign: 3GLR) is an ABC Local Radio station in Gippsland, Victoria. The station is based in Sale and covers from Warragul, through to Mallacoota. Amber Irving-Guthrie hosts the Breakfast program, Alice Walker presents Morning ...

) and Gippsland commercial stations 531 3GG, 94.3 Star FM, 99.5

TRFM TRFM (Callsign: 3TFM) is a commercial radio station broadcasting from Traralgon, Victoria, Australia. It is currently owned by Ace Radio & broadcasts A Contemporary Hits Radio (CHR) format. It features both locally produced content & nationally ...

and

Gold 1242 Gippsland's GOLD 1242 & GOLD FM 98.3 (call sign: 3GV) is an Australian radio station operating west of Traralgon, Victoria. It is owned by Ace Radio and shares studios with sister station TRFM, formerly 3TR and 3TRFM. The station broadcasts on th ...

Television

Free-to-air digital television signals containing programs from ABC TV,

SBS TV SBS may refer to: Broadcasting * SBS Broadcasting Group, Belgium, formerly many countries * Talpa TV, formerly SBS Broadcasting B.V., Netherlands ** SBS6, Dutch television channel ** SBS9, Dutch television channel * Special Broadcasting Service ...

Southern Cross 10 10 Regional is an Australian television network owned by Southern Cross Austereo that is broadcast in Queensland, New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory, Victoria and South Australia. The network is the primary affiliate of Network 10 i ...

Prime7 Prime7, formerly Prime Television and other names, was an Australian television network. Prime Television launched on 17 March 1962 as '' CBN-8'' in Orange, and later expanded to cover regional New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Capi ...

and WIN TV are broadcast to the area from Mount Tassie in the

Strzelecki Ranges The Strzelecki Ranges (pronounced STREHZ leckee) is a set of low mountain ridges located in the West Gippsland and South Gippsland regions of the Australian state of Victoria. The Ranges are named after Paweł Edmund Strzelecki, a Polish explor ...

, 68 km south-east of Drouin. Television transmissions from

Mount Dandenong Mount Dandenong is a small township/suburb of Greater Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, east from Melbourne's central business district, located within the Shire of Yarra Ranges local government area. Mount Dandenong recorded a population of 1,2 ...

for the Melbourne market (Seven, Nine and Ten) can be received in Drouin and

with a suitable roof-top antenna.

Notable people

* Gary Ablett Sr. – Played for the

Geelong Football Club The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed the Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition, and are the 2022 ...

in the

AFL AFL may refer to: Sports * American Football League (AFL), a name shared by several separate and unrelated professional American football leagues: ** American Football League (1926) (a.k.a. "AFL I"), first rival of the National Football Leagu ...

, and was named the greatest player in the club's history.ABC Sport (2006)
Ablett named greatest Cat
viewed 26 May 2007. *

Lisa Gerrard Lisa Germaine Gerrard (; born 12 April 1961) is an Australian musician, singer and composer who rose to prominence as part of the music group Dead Can Dance with music partner Brendan Perry. She is known for her unique singing style technique ( ...

– Golden Globe winner resides in Drouin *

Lionel Rose Lionel Edmund Rose MBE (21 June 1948 – 8 May 2011) was an Australian former professional boxer who competed from 1964 to 1976. He held the undisputed WBA, WBC, and ''The Ring'' bantamweight titles from 1968 to 1969, becoming the first Ind ...

– Former world champion boxer and was the 1968

Australian of the Year The Australian of the Year is a national award conferred on an Australian citizen by the National Australia Day Council, a not-for-profit Australian Governmentowned social enterprise. Similar awards are also conferred at the State and Territo ...

from Jackson's Track, just outside Drouin. A statue of Rose was unveiled in 2010 in

's Queen Street Park. * Dale Thomas – AFL footballer * Cyrus Monk – Former Australian U23 Road Cycling Champion and World University Cycling Champion. Currently rides for EvoPro Racing on the European Tour *

Jean Battersby Jean Battersby, (28 March 1928 – 24 February 2009) was an Australian arts executive and adviser, and the founding chief executive officer of the Australian Council for the Arts in 1968. Early life Born Jean Robinson in Drouin, Victoria, sh ...

– Arts executive; Order of Australia medal recipient

References

External links

Australian Places - DrouinBaw Baw ShireDrouin town and rural life during World War 2 1944 & 1945
Collection of photographs by Jim Fitzpatrick held in the Pictures Collection National Library, Canberra
Drouin: A Small Town at War
at Culture Victoria {{authority control Towns in Victoria (Australia) Towns in West Gippsland Shire of Baw Baw