Serpentine is a town in north west

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 ...

, Australia. Located on the

Loddon Valley Highway The Loddon Valley Highway runs roughly north-west from Bendigo to Kerang on the Murray Valley Highway. It constitutes part of the direct route from Melbourne to the popular Murray River holiday areas around Swan Hill. Route Loddon Valley Hig ...

, the town is 201 kilometres north west of the state capital,

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 ...

and 51 kilometres north west of the regional centre,

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban population of 100,991, makin ...

. Serpentine is in the

Shire of Loddon The Shire of Loddon is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the northern part of the state. It covers an area of and in 2021 had a population of 7,759. It includes the towns of Inglewood, Boort, Serpentine, Pyramid H ...

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

and, including the surrounding state suburb, had a population of 192 at the . The town is named for Serpentine Creek, a

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...

of the

Loddon River The Loddon River, an inland river of the northcentral catchment, part of the Murray-Darling basin, is located in the lower Riverina bioregion and Central Highlands and Loddon Mallee regions of the Australian state of Victoria. The headwaters ...

. The creek in turn was named for

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

Thomas Mitchell's description of the

river red gum ''Eucalyptus camaldulensis'', commonly known as the river red gum, is a tree that is endemic to Australia. It has smooth white or cream-coloured bark, lance-shaped or curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven or nine, white flowers an ...

trees lining the rivers and creeks of the area. Selectors began to take up allotments in 1862 and the townsite was established as Serpentine Creek in 1863. A Post Office under that name had been open since 1848, the name being changed to Serpentine in 1917. It eventually became the seat of the then

Shire of East Loddon The Shire of East Loddon was a local government area about northwest of Bendigo, in northwestern Victoria, Australia. The shire covered an area of , and existed from 1864 until 1995. History East Loddon was first incorporated as a road distr ...

. Today, Serpentine is a producer of grain and cattle and a popular place for anglers. The

Burke and Wills expedition The Burke and Wills expedition was organised by the Royal Society of Victoria in Australia in 1860–61. It consisted of 19 men led by Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills, with the objective of crossing Australia from Melbourne in the s ...

is alleged to have passed the townsite in 1860 while attempting to reach the

Gulf of Carpentaria The Gulf of Carpentaria (, ) is a large, shallow sea enclosed on three sides by northern Australia and bounded on the north by the eastern Arafura Sea (the body of water that lies between Australia and New Guinea). The northern boundary is ...

. The town has an

Australian Rules 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 ...

football team Bears Lagoon Serpentine competing in the

Loddon Valley Football League The Loddon Valley Football Netball League is an Australian rules football league based in Central Victoria. History The league was formed in 1903 by the Inglewood, Bridgewater, Newbridge and Arnold’s Bridge clubs. Inglewood and Bridgewater ...

References

External links

SMH Travel siteLoddon Shire Council
- Official Site Towns in Victoria (Australia) Towns in Loddon Campaspe Shire of Loddon 1863 establishments in Australia {{Mallee-geo-stub