Poowong is a small

dairy A dairy is a place where milk is stored and where butter, cheese, and other dairy products are made, or a place where those products are sold. It may be a room, a building, or a larger establishment. In the United States, the word may also des ...

ing town located in South Gippsland, 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 ...

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

of Victoria. At the , Poowong had a population of 360. It is from

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 ...

and about north-west of Korumburra. 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 Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

team, the Poowong Magpies, which plays in the Ellinbank & District Football League.

History

The first application for land in the Parish of Poowong was made on 17 April 1874 by James Scott for 320 acres of allotment 5, the selection made on behalf on his son Robert Scott. Four more selectors pegged out allotments within the next twelve months. On part of the Scott land a store, pub and butcher's shop were built. The Poowong Hotel was built by 1880 but it was destroyed by fire in 1883. A Post Office opened around January 1878. The first survey of townships allotments took place in 1879. The heavily timbered and hilly nature of the area meant selectors took years to clear enough of their land to make a living from their selections.

Facilities

For a town of its size, Poowong has a number of facilities. These include four

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

courts, two

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own. It is one of a ...

courts, an indoor

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

and squash stadium, a primary school, large community hall, outdoor swimming pool, a number of churches and an

oval. The town has an Australian Rules football team and a netball team competing in the Ellinbank & District Football League and the Ellinbank & District Netball Association respectively.

Community projects

The Poowong community is active, with many projects being undertaken by various community groups. The largest group is the Poowong Football & Netball Club who involve themselves not only in sporting projects, but also in projects helping the wider community. One such project is the 'My Connected Community' project which was run by the Poowong Football Club in a partnership with the Strzelecki

Lions Club Lions Clubs International, is an international service organization, currently headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois. , it had over 46,000 local clubs and more than 1.4 million members (including the youth wing Leo clubs, Leo) in more than 200 ge ...

, and was designed to increase

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use amongst community members.

Popular culture

The

rock band Root!, in their album '' Root Supposed He Was Out of the Question...'', released a song entitled "The Ballad Of The Poowong Magpies".

Notable people from Poowong

Wilfred Burchett Wilfred Graham Burchett (16 September 1911 – 27 September 1983) was an Australian journalist known for being the first western journalist to report from Hiroshima after the dropping of the atomic bomb, and for his reporting from "the other si ...

– war correspondent * Albert Francis Ronalds - prominent civil engineer * Don Watson – writer and historian * Rudi Mandemaker – full forward representing South Australia in interstate Australian Rules football who also won the Mark of the Year (SANFL) in 1989 * Jai Newcombe, AKA "The Poowong Punisher" an AFL footballer for the

Hawthorn Football Club The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Mulgrave, Victoria, that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club was founded in 1902 in the inner-east suburb of Hawth ...

References

Towns in Victoria (state) Shire of South Gippsland {{Gippsland-geo-stub