VICFarming
Camperdown
A civic town rose among volcanic lakes and grazing estates.
1854Town named · pastoral service centre
WHAT STARTED IT
Large pastoral runs on fertile volcanic plains needed a nearby centre for trade, justice and supplies. A small settlement moved from Old Timboon to a better site on Mount Leura’s slope.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
Governor La Trobe named Camperdown in 1854. Courts, schools, hotels and churches followed, and the railway opened in 1883. Dairying came to dominate the rich Western District surrounding the town.
TURNING POINTS
1839The Manifolds move their sheep onto the Purrumbete run at the end of January.
1853First house built on the new townsite.
1854Town named Camperdown.
1883Railway opens.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
A dairy-country service town with a broad avenue, clock tower and views to volcanic lakes that make its nineteenth-century plan easy to read.