Cudgewa is a small town in the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n state of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

. The town is located adjacent to the

Murray Valley Highway Murray Valley Highway is a rural highway located in Victoria (state), Victoria (with a short western tail in New South Wales), Australia, between Euston, New South Wales and Corryong, Victoria. The popular tourist route mostly follows the sout ...

, north east of the state capital,

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. Part of the

Shire of Towong The Shire of Towong is a Local government areas of Victoria, local government area in the Hume (region), Hume region of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, located in the north-east part of the state. It covers an area of and in August 20 ...

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 federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

, at the 2006 census Cudgewa and the surrounding district had a population of 237.

Burrowa-Pine Mountain National Park The Burrowa-Pine Mountain National Park is a national park in the Hume region of Victoria, Australia. The national park is situated approximately northeast of Melbourne and east of Albury-Wodonga. The Pine Mountain, one of the largest mono ...

and Mount Mitta Mitta Regional Park are close to the town.

Pre-colonial History

The Victorian side of the Upper Murray area was part of the traditional country of the Wolgal People. After the arrival of Europeans to Australia, around 1863, up to two hundred First Nation people were visiting the area, accompanied by almost as many dogs, hunting along Boundary Creek and Cudgewa Creek before moving on . First Nation people of this area had excellent engineering skills that was shown in their erection of fish traps on Cudgewa Creek and other local streams. Unfortunately at the time, "this constructions were too often credited to 'chance', instead of being identified as man-made structures erected according to strict laws which have evolved, within the various tribes, over period of centuries'(we now know it is over periods of millennia), as written by Jean Carmody in her 'Early days of the Upper Murray'.

Colonial History

Cudgewa Post Office opened on 2 June 1879. A Cudgewa North Post Office was open for periods between 1906 and 1930. The township was the last railway station on the

Cudgewa railway line The Cudgewa railway line is a closed railway line in the north-east of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Branching off the main North East railway line, North East line at Wodonga railway station, Wodonga it ran east to a final termin ...

. The station was opened on Thursday, 5 May 1921 and closed on Sunday, 1 March 1981. The town also had a tennis team.

Upper Murray Football League

The town has a football team involved with the

Upper Murray Football League The Upper Murray Football Netball League (UMFNL) is an Australian rules football and netball competition based in the rural Victoria (Australia), Victorian town of Corryong, Victoria, Corryong. The UMFNL contains four clubs from around the towns ...

, an Australian Rules Football competition which began in 1893. Cudgewa Blues played its first season in 1893 and is one of three foundation clubs. Over the many years the club has produced many premiership winning teams most recently the back to back flags of 1999 and 2000. The club also uses the same jumpers as the Carlton FC.

References

Populated places on the Murray River Towns in Victoria (state) Shire of Towong {{Hume-geo-stub