VICRail & telegraph
Drouin
The Gippsland railway fixed the town’s location.
1878Railway opens · township surveyed
WHAT STARTED IT
Construction of the Gippsland railway created a camp and junction in forested country. Once trains began running in 1878, a township was surveyed around the station to serve selectors and timber workers.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
Forest clearing supported sawmilling, then dairy farming became the district’s main industry. A butter factory grew into a large processing business. Recent growth has shifted Drouin towards Melbourne’s peri-urban edge.
TURNING POINTS
1877Railway construction camp forms.
1878Railway opens and township is surveyed.
1904Co-operative butter factory established.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
A fast-growing West Gippsland service and commuter town, still surrounded by dairy country and linked closely with Warragul.