Traralgon, Victoria

Infobox Australian Place | type = city
name = Traralgon
state = vic


caption = Post Office Place, Traralgon
lga = City of Latrobe
postcode = 3844
est = 1840s
pop = 21,689 (2006)Census 2006 AUS | id = SSC26829 | name = Traralgon (State Suburb) | accessdate = 2007-10-01 | quick = on]
elevation=
maxtemp =
mintemp =
rainfall =
stategov = Morwell
fedgov = Gippsland
dist1 = 161
location1= Melbourne
near-nw = Tyers
near-n = Glengarry
near-ne = Traralgon East
near-w = Yallourn North
near-e = Traralgon East
near-sw = Morwell
near-s = Hazelwood North
near-se = Hazelwood North

Traralgon is a regional city located in the Latrobe Valley in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. Traralgon was the former administrative centre of City of Latrobe, although this has now moved to the neighbouring city of Morwell.

The origin of the name Traralgon is uncertain. It is popularly believed to be derived from words from the Gunai language: "tarra" meaning "river" and "algon" meaning "little fish". However, these words are not reflected in modern linguists' knowledge of the Gunai language, where, for example, the word for river is "wun wun" or "wurn wurn". [Gardner, PD. 1992, "Names of East Gippsland; their origins, meanings and history", Ngaruk Press, Ensay]

History

The Gippsland region was originally inhabited by the indigenous Gunai people for a period in excess of 2,000 years.

The area around Traralgon was first settled by Europeans in the 1840s soon after being explored by Count Pawel Strzelecki on his return from the Snowy Mountains where he named Australia's highest peak, Mount Kosciuszko. Due to the Latrobe Valley having relatively high rainfall, the land is very fertile, and farming was quickly established. As with much of central and western Gippsland, this was mainly dairy farming.

The township was established in the early 1860s, the Post Office opening on 1 January 1861. 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 ]

In 1877 the railway line from Melbourne was completed with a railway station at Traralgon giving the town a major economic boost.

Traralgon was part of the area administered by the Rosedale Roads Board, before the Shire of Traralgon was estalished in 1879. In the latter part of the 19th century the Shire grew strongly.

It was not until the 1930s however that Traralgon began to move away from a farming based economy. In 1936 Australian Paper Manufacturers established a paper mill at Maryvale, around 8 km from Traralgon.

In 1960 Traralgon's most famous son Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet jointly won the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine.

Through the 1950s residents and councillors fought to separate the urban areas of Traralgon from the Shire of Traralgon, which occurred in 1961 when Traralgon formed its own borough, the Borough of Traralgon. Traralgon was proclaimed a city in 1964. The City of Traralgon and Shire of Traralgon continued a separate extistence until the Shire of Latrobe was created in 1994

Further development resulted from the expansion of the power generation industry following World War II, particularly through the now defunct SEC. Which included large expansions at Yallourn and Hazelwood Power Stations and the construction of the massive Loy Yang Power Station in the 1970s and 1980s.

An Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) information processing centre was established in the late 1980s, employing around 400 people.

Completion of the Loy Yang power stations, extensive voluntary departures from the electricity industry and privatisation of the Victorian electricity industry in the early 1990s had devastating effects on the economy of the Latrobe Valley. Traralgon, with a more diversified economy, suffered to a lesser extent than the neighbouring towns of Morwell and Moe both of which relied almost exclusively on the power stations for their livelihood.

Modern Traralgon

Perhaps due to its rapid development, Traralgon has retained little of its historical architecture. Notable exceptions are the Post Office and Courthouse erected in 1886 and Ryans Hotel erected in 1914, both in Franklin Street.

The Traralgon central business district is centered around Seymour and Franklin Streets. A sub-regional shopping centre has also been constructed, which has a thriving mix of tenants (mainly franchise and national brands), with the adajacent strip shopping centre filled with local businesses.

Traralgon, with its comprehensive mix of commercial, retail and national chain franchises, provides the amenities of city living, with the benefits of a five minute commute to the shopping areas from the residential area, with the median price approximately half that of Melbourne

Although noticeably better than in past years, an unpleasant odour still sometimes pervades the CBD and "West End" residential areas. It is presumed to originate from the gas incinerators at the local Paper Mill. Locals refer to this as the "Traralgon stink". Despite intermittent lobbying by a minority, this smell is happily accepted by the majority as a normal part of life in Traralgon.

The Traralgon economy is still heavily reliant on the power industry and the paper mill for employment. Due to this dependence, complaining of the mill smells is frowned upon. Other significant employers include the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC),Centrelink and the Latrobe Regional Hospital in Morwell.

Local sporting teams include the Traralgon Redsox (Baseball), the Traralgon Maroons (AFL) competing in the West Gippsland Latrobe Football League, Traralgon-Tyers United competing in the North Gippsland Football League and Gippsland Power (AFL).

chooling

Traralgon features a number of primary and secondary schools, ranging from state schools to catholic and independent schools. The local primary schools include Grey Street Primary School (formerly Traralgon Primary School), Kosciuszko Street Primary School, Liddiard Road Primary School, Stockdale Road Primary School, St. Michaels Primary School, St. Gabriels Primary School, Flinders Christian College and St. Pauls Anglican Grammar School. Flinders Christian College and St Paul's Anglican Grammar School are also secondary schools. The local government secondary school, Traralgon College, has two campuses, the junior campus (years 7-9) located on Liddiard Rd in Traralgon's east, with the senior campus (years 10-12) on Grey St. in Traralgon's West. There is also a catholic secondary school, Lavalla Catholic College. Lavalla has two campuses in Traralgon's West end, and a third campus is Newborough, Moe. The junior campus, St Paul's, neighbors Traralgon College's senior campus on Grey St. The senior campus, Kildare, is located in Kosciuszko St.

A number of Traralgon families also send their children to the two independent Anglican grammar schools in the region: St. Pauls Anglican Grammar School in Warragul or Gippsland Grammar School in Sale. While St. Paul's seems to be a slightly more popular choice for Traralgon families, Gippsland Grammar has a superior academic, sporting and cultural record so it is still very highly regarded.

Local Media

Newspapers

The bi-weekly Latrobe Valley Express newspaper is delivered to all homes on Monday and Thursday nights, in Traralgon, Morwell and Moe. The weekly Traralgon Journal is delivered to all homes on Tuesday nights; this paper is much smaller than the Express and usually has 8 pages of content.

Television

Commercial Melbourne based television networks such as the Seven, Nine and Ten networks are all re-broadcast in the Latrobe Valley by their regional affiliates, which are Prime Television, WIN Television and Southern Cross Ten respectively. All three channels have local commercials placed on their broadcasts and WIN TV also broadcasts a local news bulletin. Most Melbourne channels (Seven Network, Channel Nine, Channel Ten) can be received in analogue and more clearly in digital in Traralgon with a suitable roof-top antenna. Both national public broadcasters, Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Special Broadcasting Service are broadcast to the Latrobe Valley as well.

Radio

There are two radio stations with studios located in Traralgon - 3TR FM and 3GV, both owned by Ace Radio. The FM station is broadcast along with the television channels from Mt. Tassie while 3GV is broadcast from an AM transmitter in Sale. Most Australian Broadcasting Corporation stations are rebroadcast locally and available in Traralgon, along with 774 ABC Melbourne which is able to be received directly from Melbourne.

Events

* Traralgon Show (November)
* Traralgon Cup (November)
* Traralgon Tennis International (January)
* Australia Day Breakfast (January)
* Carols By Candlelight (December)

Famous people from Traralgon

* Gord Bamford (Canadian country music singer)
* Michelle Bayley (children's author)
* Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet (scientist)
* Troy Luff (AFL player)
* Brendon Goddard (AFL player)
* Axella Johannesson (musician)
* Troy MacCubbin (Guitarist for t.A.T.u.)
* Bernie Quinlan, Australian rules footballer and coach
* Irwin Thomas (Musician, formerly known as Jack Jones, of "Southern Sons")
* Michael Voss (AFL player)
* Kelvin Templeton (AFL Player)
* Peter Siddle (Cricketer)

ee also

Traralgon railway station

References

External links

* [http://www.latrobe.vic.gov.au Latrobe City Website]