VICFarming
Mooroopna
A private township on the river flats facing Shepparton.
1874W. S. Archer auctions township allotments
WHAT STARTED IT
Mooroopna grew on the western side of the Goulburn River opposite Shepparton, where roads from Sandhurst, Rushworth, Murchison, Toolamba and the Riverina met. It was not a government survey: landowner W. S. Archer sold town lots in 1874 as pastoral runs were broken up into farm selections.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
A flour mill, a hospital and vineyards followed, and Mooroopna at first drew ahead of Shepparton until the railway favoured its neighbour. Irrigation turned the district to orchards, and the Ardmona fruit cannery beside the railway became the town’s main employer from the 1920s.
TURNING POINTS
1874W. S. Archer offers 40 frontage allotments in the ‘rising and important’ township of Mooroopna at auction in July.
1877Mooroopna Hospital opens.
1880The railway reaches Mooroopna; a station building follows in 1881.
1922The Ardmona fruit cannery opens beside the line.
1994Mooroopna becomes part of the City of Greater Shepparton.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
A town of about 8,300 people in Greater Shepparton, still home to the SPC fruit cannery. Since 1976 it has been counted with Shepparton as one urban area.