Briagolong is a town in the Australian

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 ...

of Victoria, located 20 kilometres north of

Maffra Maffra is a town in Victoria, Australia, east of Melbourne. It is in the Shire of Wellington local government area and it is the second most populous city of the Shire. It relies mainly on dairy farming and other agriculture, and is the ...

and some 270 kilometres 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 me ...

, in the

Shire of Wellington The Shire of Wellington is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the eastern part of the state. It covers an area of and in June 2018 had a population of 44,019. It includes the towns of Heyfield, Rosedale, Maffra, ...

region of Gippsland. At the

2016 census Sixteen or 16 may refer to: *16 (number), the natural number following 15 and preceding 17 *one of the years 16 BC, AD 16, 1916, 2016 Films * ''Pathinaaru'' or ''Sixteen'', a 2010 Tamil film * ''Sixteen'' (1943 film), a 1943 Argentine film dir ...

, Briagolong had a population of 1,081.

History

Briagolong Post Office opened on 1 May 1871. The town's principal industry has been timber, and it supplied red gum paving blocks for the streets of

, and

stringybark A stringybark can be any of the many ''Eucalyptus'' species which have thick, fibrous bark. Like all eucalypts, stringybarks belong to the family Myrtaceae. In exceptionally fertile locations some stringybark species (in particular messmate strin ...

for the flooring in Australia House in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. A railway branch line from Maffra opened in 1889 and was closed in 1952. The town's local cricket team (the Saints) were crowned Sale-Maffra Cricket Association 2018/19 season premiers. Briagolong has a pub, which serves meals and drinks. It was established in 1880.

Today

Briagolong was the home town of Private Jake Kovco, Australia's first military casualty in the Iraq War. Private Kovco's funeral was held in Briagolong on 2 May 2006, and was attended by Prime Minister

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the ...

, Defence Minister Brendan Nelson, Defence Force Chief Angus Houston and Army Chief Peter Leahy. In conjunction with neighbouring township Boisdale, Briagolong 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 ...

football team in the East Gippsland Football League. The town's water supply is taken from the Freestone Creek. Popular tourist areas nearby are the swimming areas on the Freestone Creek at Quarry Reserve (4.5 km north of Briagolong) and Blue Pool (10 km north), both on the Freestone Creek Road.

Notable people

* Irving Mosquito, Australian rules footballer

References

Towns in Victoria (Australia) Towns in Central Gippsland Shire of Wellington {{Gippsland-geo-stub