Little River, Victoria

Infobox Australian Place | type = town
name = Little River
state = vic


caption = Little River railway station
lga = City of Greater Geelong
lga2 = City of Wyndham
postcode = 3211
pop = 375 (2006)Census 2006 AUS | id = UCL228700 | name = Little River (L) (Urban Centre/Locality) | accessdate = 2007-10-27 | quick = on]
est = 1840
elevation= 22
stategov = Lara
fedgov = Corio
dist1 = 51
location1= Melbourne
dist2 = 31
location2= Geelong
near-nw = Balliang
near-n = Wyndham Vale
near-ne = Werribee
near-w = Lara
near-e = Cocoroc
near-sw = Corio
near-s =
near-se =

Little River is a rural township north of Geelong and is 51 km west-southwest of Melbourne along the Princes Freeway. The area of town north of the river is part of the City of Wyndham while the area south of the river is part of the City of Greater Geelong. At the 2001 census, Little River had a population of 353.Census 2001 AUS
id=UCL228700
name=Little River (L) (Urban Centre/Locality)
accessdate=2007-08-04
quick=on]

History

The Little River has headwaters in the nearby Brisbane Ranges. It was also known as the Cocoroc Rivulet, Cocoroc being a locality near the area. The road from Melbourne to Geelong once crossed the Little River and the Travellers Rest Inn was opened there in about 1839. [http://home.vicnet.net.au/~lrhs/history.html Little River Historical Society: A Brief History of Little River] ]

It had been one of the Port Phillip Association's pastoral runs (the first occupier being James Simpson), and later a large part of the district was included in the Chirnside estate centred on Werribee. Early on small farmers had the benefit of an 80 km² common for grazing.

The Post Office opened on 1 February 1858. Citation
last = Premier Postal History | title = Post Office List | url = https://www.premierpostal.com/cgi-bin/wsProd.sh/Viewpocdwrapper.p?SortBy=VIC&country= | accessdate = 2008-04-11 ]

The railway though the town was opened in 1876,cite journal
year = 1990
month = March
title = Tracks Across the State
author = Sid Brown
journal = Newsrail
publisher = Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division)
pages = pages 71–76 ] as part of the line to Geelong. The local railway station is served by V/Line passenger services on the Geelong line.

Today

The township has a petrol station, a primary school, a kindergarten, a pub, a cricket ground and several churches. Visitors from Melbourne pass through the town on the way to the You Yangs Regional Park and the Little River Earth Sanctuary.

Australian rock band Little River Band is named after Little River after seeing it on a road sign on the way to a gig in Geelong. [ [http://www.birtles.com/littleriverband.html Little River Band] ] Some scenes for the 2005 Australian television series We Can Be Heroes were filmed at Little River, although it was referred to as the fictional town of 'Dunt'.

Census populations

* 1861 - 4
* 1871 - 121
* 1911 - 294
* 1954 - 358
* 1966 - 191
* 2001 - 353
* 2006 - 375

References

ee also

*Little River railway station
*You Yangs

External links

* [http://www.arts.monash.edu.au/ncas/multimedia/gazetteer/list/littleriver.html Open Learning Australian Places site]