VICFarming
Berwick
A Gippsland road town that kept its village heart.
1854Township land subdivided
WHAT STARTED IT
Berwick was laid out in 1854 on fertile land of the Cardinia Creek run, beside the coach road from Melbourne to Gippsland. Settlers grew wheat, barley and potatoes, and the town became the service centre for surrounding farms.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
The 1877 railway and Wilson’s quarry, which supplied ballast, boosted the town, while dairying and cheese making replaced cropping. The shire’s headquarters moved to Pakenham in 1902, and Berwick stayed a country town of large estates and exotic trees until growth arrived in the 1970s.
TURNING POINTS
1854Land at Berwick is subdivided, and a store, post office and hotel soon open.
1857The Border Hotel, later Ye Berwick Inn, is licensed.
1868The Shire of Berwick is proclaimed, following a district road board formed in 1862.
1877The Gippsland railway from Oakleigh opens on 8 October, passing through Berwick.
1976Growth-corridor housing begins; Berwick city’s population nearly doubles to 1986.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
A large outer suburb in the City of Casey, with university, hospital and school campuses. High Street, Ye Berwick Inn and a First World War avenue of poplars still give the old centre a village feel.