Warragul

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title: "Warragul" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["towns-in-victoria-(state)", "shire-of-baw-baw"] topic_path: "general/towns-in-victoria-state" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warragul" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox Australian place | type = town"]

FieldValue
nameWarragul
statevic
imageWarragul.jpg
lgaShire of Baw Baw
use_lga_mapyes
postcode3820
est1840s
local_mapyes
pop_year
pop_footnotes
area55
elevation143.0
elevation_footnotes{{cite web
urlhttp://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw_085093_All.shtml
titleWarragul Climate Statistics (1888-2015)
publisherBureau of Meteorology
access-dateSeptember 15, 2024}}
maxtemp19.2
maxtemp_footnotes
mintemp8.4
mintemp_footnotes
rainfall1020.2
rainfall_footnotes
countyBuln Buln
stategovNarracan
fedgovMonash
dist1102
dir1East
location1Melbourne
dist232
dir2W
location2Moe
dist37
dir3ESE
location3Drouin
near-nwDrouin East
near-nLillico
near-neNilma North
near-wDrouin
near-eNilma
near-swDrouin South
near-sLardner
near-seBull Swamp
::

::callout[type=note] the town ::

| name = Warragul | state = vic | image = Warragul.jpg | caption = | lga = Shire of Baw Baw | use_lga_map = yes | postcode = 3820 | est = 1840s |local_map=yes|zoom=10| pop = 19856 | pop_year = | pop_footnotes = |area=55| coordinates = |elevation = 143.0 |elevation_footnotes={{cite web |url = http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw_085093_All.shtml |title = Warragul Climate Statistics (1888-2015) |publisher = Bureau of Meteorology |access-date = September 15, 2024}} |maxtemp = 19.2 |maxtemp_footnotes = |mintemp = 8.4 |mintemp_footnotes = |rainfall = 1020.2 |rainfall_footnotes = | county = Buln Buln | stategov = Narracan | fedgov = Monash | dist1 = 102 | dir1 = East | location1= Melbourne | dist2 = 32 | dir2 = W | location2= Moe | dist3 = 7 | dir3 = ESE | location3= Drouin | near-nw = Drouin East | near-n = Lillico | near-ne = Nilma North | near-w = Drouin | near-e = Nilma | near-sw = Drouin South | near-s = Lardner | near-se = Bull Swamp Warragul () is a town in Victoria, Australia, 102 km 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 19,856 people. Warragul forms part of a larger urban area that includes nearby Drouin that had an estimated total population of 42,827 as of the .

Warragul is the main population and service centre of the West Gippsland region and the Shire of Baw Baw. The surrounding area is noted for dairy farming and other niche agriculture and has long been producing gourmet foods.

Naming

Warragul (or warrigal, worrigle, warragal) is a New South Wales Indigenous word from the Darug language meaning a wild, undomesticated dingo. The town name is accepted to mean wild dog and various businesses in the town use the words 'Wild Dog' in their name.

However, the word was recorded as being used by settlers of Gippsland in the 1840s and 1850s to mean wild Aboriginal or a Gunai/Kurnai person. The traditional land of the Gunai/Kurnai people includes the town of Warragul, then intersects with Boonwurrung territory to the west of the town.

In 1851, British botanist Daniel Bunce recorded warragul as a Boonwurrung language word meaning wild, ferocious and enemy. P D Gardner suggests Bunce was correct in translation, but incorrect in origin, since the word comes from Darug. Hugh Copeland wrote in his 1934 history of Warragul that the place name was an Indigenous word meaning wild.

The word is also used for the naming of Warrigal Creek in South Gippsland to refer to the inhabitants of the area.

History

The town of Warragul began as a construction camp on McLeod's Track, now Brandy Creek Road, at the point where the surveyed railway line linked to the coach road. John Lardner surveyed the townships along the line in 1877 and noted that the early arrivals in the area were squatters, who had erected their shops and dwellings on Crown land. The squatters' blocks were not offered for the first sale of town land on 2 March 1878, but were available to purchase on the second sale later that month.

In November 1873, The Victorian Parliament passed an Act approving the construction of a railway linking Oakleigh to Sale. The construction of the Gippsland railway line began simultaneously from both directions. The Warragul railway station opened on 1 March 1878 and the first train ran through in the same month. In May 1890 Warragul railway station became a junction station when a branch line was opened to Rokeby (later extended to Neerim South and Noojee).

The first Warragul post office opened on 16 March 1877 at the general store operated by James Biram, who became the first postmaster. A contract to build an official post office was made on 4 April 1887 and a foundation stone was laid on 4 June 1887. The building was completed and occupied the following year. Warragul's modern post office was opened on 3 April 1967, after the old post office closed on 18 September 1965 and was demolished in 1966.

Existing roads were renamed Princes Highway after the visit to Australia in 1920 of the then Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VIII). The highway was officially opened on 10 August 1920 at a ceremony in Warragul.

Warragul's Petersville Milk Products Factory in Queen Street supplied the famous Peters Ice Cream brand's factory in Mulgrave with all the dairy raw material (fresh cream and concentrated skim milk) for 35 years. The plant also manufactured skim milk powder under the famous Dutch Jug brand and butter under the Iceberg brand. It exported butter, butter oil and milk powders to Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

Warragul was voted Premier Town in Victoria, 1970–1973.

The Warragul Magistrates' Court closed on 1 January 1990.

Geography

Warragul is located on hills that extend north from the Strzelecki Ranges near Ellinbank, joining to the Baw Baws in the Neerim District. This range is historically referred to as the Warragul Hills. The range effectively separates the flatlands of the Koo-Wee-Rup swamp (starting near Longwarry) in the west and the Moe Swamp on the eastern side (starting near Darnum).

Warragul contains the Linear Park Arts Discovery Trail, a trail covering several adjacent parks in the town. It features painted bollards, mosaics and murals. The trail joins up with the Drouin to Warragul Two Towns Trail.

Climate

Warragul has an oceanic climate (Köppen: Cfb), with warm summers and cool, rainy winters. Average maxima vary from 26.2 C in February to 12.9 C in July, while average minima fluctuate between 13.2 C in February and 3.8 C in July. Precipitation is moderately abundant: (averaging 1020.2 mm per annum), and is frequent (spread between 153.9 precipitation days). Consequently, the town is not sunny, experiencing 171.4 cloudy days and only 52.6 clear days annually. Extreme temperatures have ranged from 42.3 C on 25 February 1968 to -3.7 C on 4 July 1963.

|location = Warragul (, 143 m AMSL) (1962-1979 normals & extremes, rainfall 1888-2015) |metric first = yes |single line = yes |Jan record high C = 41.7 |Feb record high C = 42.3 |Mar record high C = 38.1 |Apr record high C = 31.2 |May record high C = 26.1 |Jun record high C = 20.6 |Jul record high C = 22.2 |Aug record high C = 24.7 |Sep record high C = 26.7 |Oct record high C = 32.7 |Nov record high C = 36.7 |Dec record high C = 38.9 |Jan high C = 25.9 |Feb high C = 26.2 |Mar high C = 23.9 |Apr high C = 19.7 |May high C = 16.0 |Jun high C = 13.5 |Jul high C = 12.9 |Aug high C = 13.9 |Sep high C = 16.0 |Oct high C = 18.9 |Nov high C = 20.7 |Dec high C = 23.4 |year high C = 19.2 |Jan low C = 12.5 |Feb low C = 13.2 |Mar low C = 11.6 |Apr low C = 9.0 |May low C = 6.6 |Jun low C = 4.8 |Jul low C = 3.8 |Aug low C = 5.0 |Sep low C = 6.2 |Oct low C = 8.0 |Nov low C = 9.4 |Dec low C = 10.9 |Jan record low C = 3.9 |Feb record low C = 3.3 |Mar record low C = 1.8 |Apr record low C = -1.6 |May record low C = -0.9 |Jun record low C = -3.4 |Jul record low C = -3.7 |Aug record low C = -3.5 |Sep record low C = -1.6 |Oct record low C = -0.9 |Nov record low C = 1.2 |Dec record low C = 2.8 |precipitation colour = green |Jan precipitation mm = 60.6 |Feb precipitation mm = 52.4 |Mar precipitation mm = 67.9 |Apr precipitation mm = 82.9 |May precipitation mm = 93.8 |Jun precipitation mm = 92.1 |Jul precipitation mm = 91.2 |Aug precipitation mm = 102.2 |Sep precipitation mm = 103.8 |Oct precipitation mm = 105.8 |Nov precipitation mm = 88.7 |Dec precipitation mm = 79.4 |year precipitation mm = 1020.2 |unit precipitation days = 0.2 mm |Jan precipitation days = 8.4 |Feb precipitation days = 7.2 |Mar precipitation days = 9.9 |Apr precipitation days = 12.3 |May precipitation days = 14.6 |Jun precipitation days = 15.4 |Jul precipitation days = 16.4 |Aug precipitation days = 16.8 |Sep precipitation days = 15.5 |Oct precipitation days = 14.5 |Nov precipitation days = 12.5 |Dec precipitation days = 10.4 |source 1 = Bureau of Meteorology (1962-1979 normals & extremes, rainfall 1888-2015)

Events

Warragul is the major township closest to Lardner, the home of the Gippsland Field Days. Three major events are held at Lardner Park each year—the Farm World agricultural show, Trucks in Action, and Harvest of Gippsland. The Farm World agricultural show is a major drawcard for the Warragul area. Every year in late March, Warragul plays host to these Field Days at Lardner Park. The Field Days are Australia's premier mixed farming Field Days and they include one of Australia's most diverse ranges of beef cattle, dairying and horticulture exhibits.

Warragul is also home to the annual Warragul Show, which is held on the first Friday of March each year. It is traditionally a farming and livestock show, but includes rides, stalls, games, fireworks and showbags. It is held at the Warragul showgrounds.

Education

For a town of its size, Warragul has a large education industry with four primary schools, three secondary schools and two tertiary institutions.

Primary schools

Both Warragul Primary (opened in 1879) and Warragul North Primary (opened c.1954) are state primary schools, St. Joseph's Catholic Primary Warragul and St. Angela's of the Cross are Catholic schools, and St. Paul's Anglican Grammar School is an Anglican Church of Australia (formerly Church of England) primary school.

Warragul & District Specialist School is a junior school that focuses on educating children aged 5 to 10 years of age. The school uses a series of teaching tools such as PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System) and AUSLAN.

Secondary schools

There are three secondary schools in Warragul, these include Warragul Regional College, Marist-Sion College and St Paul's Anglican Grammar School. Warragul Regional College was formed in 1994 from the merger of Warragul High School and Warragul Secondary College. Marist-Sion College was formed in 1975 as a result of the merger between the Marist Brothers Boys College and the Our Lady of Sion Girls College. St. Paul's Anglican Grammar School was formed in 1982 with just nineteen year 7 students and has grown quite significantly in recent years.

Tertiary institutions

The Central Gippsland Institute of TAFE has a campus located to the south of the CBD adjacent to the railway station. The Education Centre Gippsland has recently taken over the courses previously provided by the McMillan Institute of Land and Food Resources, a former campus of the University of Melbourne. The courses offered encompass the areas of agriculture, equine management, harness racing, horticulture and conservation and land management. A Monash University campus located in close proximity to the public hospital (West Gippsland Healthcare Group) provides clinical training and rural placements for medical students as part of Monash Rural Health.

Transport

Warragul railway station is a staffed V/Line station located to the south of the Warragul CBD. The railway station is situated on the Gippsland railway line, which services the towns and suburbs between Bairnsdale and Southern Cross.

Warragul has a modest bus network consisting of four routes within the town's boundaries. Each route has a frequency of three services a day. There are also bus services to neighbouring towns. The Warragul bus network was recently upgraded with the Myki technology, fitted to all town buses. This ticketing system has been implemented on the V/Line Train services during 2014–15.

Sport

Gippsland United FC was founded in 1963 and represents the town in soccer, playing in the Victorian State League Division 1 South East, making it the highest ranked soccer team in the entire Gippsland region.

Despite taking 22 years to win their first Latrobe Valley Soccer League title, the club won the league seven times between 1985 and 2001 before departing for the Metropolitan league - them winning five promotions to rise from provincial obscurity to the brink of NPL Victoria. The club was known as Warragul United until a 2022 merger with Gippsland FC and Latrobe Women's FC created Gippsland United FC.

The Warragul Warriors are the representative teams of the Warragul and District Amateur Basketball Association. They have a long history of success, most recently winning the Gippsland and State titles in the Country Basketball League.

The town has an Australian rules football team competing in the Gippsland Football League, the Warragul Football Club, and another, the Warragul Industrials, competing in the Ellinbank & District Football League.

The Warragul & District Junior Football League caters for younger Australian rules footballers, with three teams based in Warragul: the Colts, Warranor (at Eastern Park) & the Blues (at Marist-Sion College ). The WDJFL has three competitions, consisting of the under-10s, under-12s and the Under-14½s.

The Warragul Little Athletics Centre meets on Saturdays throughout the summer season at the Geoff Watt Memorial Track, Burke Street, Warragul. It caters for young athletes in age groups ranging from Under 6 through to Under 17. As well as competing locally, athletes are able to contest Regional and State Championships in Track & Field as well as Relay Championships and Multi-Events.

Warragul's Wild Dog Triathlon Club also meets on Saturdays throughout the summer season for a swim/cycle/run event. The club caters for all ages and abilities with Junior, Under 14, Fun Tri, Super-Sprint, A Grade and B Grade categories. Weekly competition commences at the clubrooms opposite the indoor pool in Burke Street, Warragul.

Warragul Harness Racing Club conducts regular meetings at its racetrack in the town.{{Citation | last = Australian Harness Racing | title = Warragul | url = http://www.harness.org.au/warragul/warragul.cfm?fromstate=vic | access-date = 2009-05-11 }}

The Warragul Greyhound Racing Club holds regular greyhound racing meetings at the Logan Park Showgrounds. The track opened on 14 September 1956.

Golfers play at the course of the Warragul Country Club on Sutton Street.

Warragul possesses one of the best outdoor velodromes in the state and is serviced by the Warragul Cycling Club (WCC), which runs road races most Saturdays on the outskirts of the town.

The club hosts the Baw Baw Classic road race, held early each April. This race features one of the hardest climbs in the country and has been won by riders such as 2000 Cyclist of the year, Dave McKenzie, Tour de France Stage Winner, Simon Gerrans and 2009 Australian Road Champion, Peter McDonald.

Local media

Newspapers

Warragul has two weekly local newspapers, The Warragul and Drouin Gazette and a free publication, The West Gippsland Trader. According to the Warragul Regional Newspapers website, The Gazette and The Trader are distributed to locations from as far as Pakenham to Moe and from Poowong to Noojee, covering over 40,000 readers.

Warragul also has a free twice-monthly print and online newspaper, the Warragul & Baw Baw Citizen. The Warragul Citizen was established in 2011 as a quarterly print paper before becoming bi-monthly 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 the last physical edition of its original run in February. In 2014 the paper announced it would return to print with monthly editions from 11 July, changing the name to Warragul & Baw Baw Citizen in the process.

The West Gippsland Gazette was published from 1898 to 1930 in Warragul; it has been digitised and is available on Trove.

Radio

Warragul has two commercial radio stations, 531 3GG and 94.3 Triple M Gippsland. 3GG commenced in 1937, then known as 3UL. It changed its name to 3GG in 1989. Triple M Gippsland commenced broadcasting in 2002. Initially known as Sea FM and later Star FM and Hit FM.

Warragul also receives the Drouin-based West Gippsland Community Radio, 103.1 3BBR FM.

Warragul has community radio station for print disability, Vision Australia Radio Warragul broadcasts on 93.5FM.

The radio reception available in Warragul includes many of the Melbourne commercial stations (such as 105.1 Triple M, Smooth 91.5, 3AW 693, Nova 100), ABC Broadcasters (774 ABC Melbourne, 96.7 Triple J and 100.7 ABC Gippsland) and Gippsland commercial stations based further east in Traralgon (99.5 TRFM and Gold 1242).

Military history

During World War II, Warragul was the location of RAAF No.2 Inland Aircraft Fuel Depot (IAFD), completed in 1942 and closed on 14 June 1944. Usually consisting of four tanks, 31 fuel depots were built across Australia for the storage and supply of aircraft fuel for the Royal Australian Air Force and the United States Army Air Forces at a total cost of £900,000 ($1,800,000).

Notable people==

Main article: Category:People from Warragul

References

References

  1. {{Census 2021 AUS
  2. {{Census 2021 AUS
  3. (15 August 2019). "Loan words from Australian languages: Tales of myth and misunderstanding".
  4. (25 June 1938). "How Shires were Named".
  5. (5 September 1874). "The Explorer".
  6. (24 May 1865). "Angus McMillan".
  7. (1992). "Names of the Latrobe Valley and West Gippsland". Ngarak Press.
  8. (1904). "The Native Tribes of South-east Australia". McMillan.
  9. (1851). "Language of the Aborigines of the Colony of Victoria". Thomas Brown.
  10. (1859). "Language of the Aborigines of the Colony of Victoria". Slater, Williams, and Hodgson.
  11. (1934). "The Path of Progress". Shire of Warragul.
  12. (1982). "Warragul: Progress Through a Century". Warragul and District Historical Society.
  13. "Warragul Railway Station". Victorian Heritage Database Report.
  14. (4 April 2017). "Ornate Gothic Style Post Office".
  15. (14 September 1920). "The Prince's Highway".
  16. (3 August 1920). "The Prince's Highway".
  17. (May 2001). "Review of Legal Services in Rural and Regional Victoria". Parliament of Victoria Law Reform Committee.
  18. "Warragul - Linear Park Arts Discovery Trail".
  19. "Warragul Climate (1888-2015)".
  20. "Warragul Primary School".
  21. "Warragul North Primary School :: Home".
  22. "Warragul & District Specialist School – Celebrating Difference.".
  23. link. (13 September 2009 , viewed 4 May 2007.)
  24. University of Melbourne (2007), [http://www.landfood.unimelb.edu.au/depts/mcmillc.html McMillan Campus] {{Webarchive. link. (10 June 2007 , viewed 21 May 2007.)
  25. Education Centre Gippsland (2007), [http://www.ecg.asn.au/mcmillan/mcmillanindex.htm McMillan Information] {{Webarchive. link. (29 August 2007 , viewed 21 May 2007.)
  26. "Warragul United Soccer Club".
  27. "Warragul United First Grade Divisional History".
  28. "Membership & History".
  29. "News Information - Warragul District Amateur Basketball Association".
  30. "Fixture for CBL Gippsland Men".
  31. Full_Points Footy. "Warragul_Industrials".
  32. "History of the Warragul GRC". History of Greyhound Racing.
  33. Greyhound Racing Victoria. "Warragul".
  34. Golf Select. "Warragul".
  35. Warragul Regional Newspapers (2007), [http://www.warragulgazette.com.au/?sel=Advertising&type=245&lay=3 Warragul and Drouin Gazette Circulation], viewed 4 May 2007.
  36. "Announcement: Print edition hiatus - The Warragul Citizen".
  37. "Baw Baw's best free paper returning to print - The Warragul Citizen".
  38. "West Gippsland Gazette (Warragul, Vic. : 1898 - 1930)".
  39. (1995). "Logistics units". AGPS Press.
  40. Jason Bargwanna (2009), [http://www.v8supercars.com.au/drivers/DriverDetails.asp?ind=&DID=281 Jason Bargwanna v8supercars.com.au], viewed 16 August 2009.
  41. "Chris Godsil - Abount Me".
  42. link. (28 September 2007 , viewed 26 May 2007.)
  43. Australian Olympic Committee (2007) [http://www.olympics.com.au/athletes.cfm?AthleteID=6775 Kathy Watt], viewed 4 May 2007.

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towns-in-victoria-(state)shire-of-baw-baw