VICFarming
Tyabb
An orchard town that moved to the railway.
1861Tyabb township surveyed
WHAT STARTED IT
Waterholes on this flat, once swampy country drew pastoralists, and the rising ground to the west suited farms and orchards. The first Tyabb township was laid out beside Western Port, but the town that lasted grew where the railway passed through in 1889.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
With the railway carrying fruit to Melbourne, Tyabb gained an annual show from 1911 and a government cool store in 1914. Orcharding stayed strong until the 1960s, when small holdings and rising land prices pushed growers to Gippsland.
TURNING POINTS
1861The Township of Tyabb is surveyed beside Western Port, on the site now known as Old Tyabb near Hastings.
1889The railway to Crib Point opens through the site of the present township.
1911Tyabb holds its first annual show.
1914The Minister of Agriculture opens the government fruit cool stores at Tyabb on 21 April.
1960sOrchardists begin selling up and moving to Gippsland as land prices rise.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
A semi-rural township with a compact shopping centre, schools and an airfield. The old cool store beside the station is now an antiques market.