Barramunga

Barramunga
Barramunga
Coordinates: 38°34′56″S 143°43′21″E / 38.58222°S 143.72250°E / -38.58222; 143.72250
CountryAustralia
StateVictoria
LGA
Location
Government
 • State electorate
 • Federal division
Population
 • Total11 (2021)[2]
Postcode
3249
Localities around Barramunga
Gellibrand Forrest Barwon Downs
Beech Forest Barramunga Separation Creek
Wye River
Beech Forest Tanybryn
Mount Sabine		 Kennett River

Barramunga is a rural locality in the Shire of Colac Otway, Victoria, Australia.[3] The small locality is located deep in the Otway Ranges, and is mostly forested.[4] At the 2021 census, Barramunga had a population of 11.[2]

The locality largely developed from the 1880s due to the growth of the local timber industry, with the area first being opened for timber selection in 1884, though a successful dairying industry also developed for several decades.[5][6]

Barramunga State School opened in 1886 and a post office opened on 14 February 1887.[7][8][9] A general store and a hotel, the Junction Hotel, both operated by W. F. Danaher, opened around 1888. The hotel was a meeting-place for local activities and interest groups for many years.[10][11][12][6] The Junction Hotel burned down in a bushfire, along with a neighbouring house, in February 1893, was rebuilt, and narrowly escaped being burnt down again in another bushfire in 1898.[13][14] There were also Methodist and Anglican churches at Barramunga at one time.[6]

There was a local campaign to extend the Forrest railway line to Barramunga from the 1880s, but it was ultimately unsuccessful.[15][5]

The locality declined over the course of the twentieth century as both the timber and dairying industries declined.[5][6] The hotel was delicensed in 1929, though it continued to provide accommodation to itinerant workers, now as "Junction House".[6] The last sawmill at Barramunga itself burned down in a bushfire in 1939 and did not reopen.[16][5]

A new public hall opened during the 1950s, following a post-World War II resurgence in the timber industry. However, the area declined again from the 1960s, as sawmills closed and farmland was resumed to protect water catchments. The school closed in 1974 and the hall fell into disuse thereafter.[6][5] The former school, and later the hall as well, then became a school camp for Colac High School. [6] The store and post office closed on 27 February 1981.[9] The school camp closed in the 1990s, after which the former hall was sold into private ownership and the former school building removed.[6]

There are two heritage sites in Barramunga listed on the Victorian Heritage Register, both related to the area's sawmilling past: the ruins of Henry's Mill No. 1 (1904-1927), the largest sawmill in the eastern Otways at the time, and Henry's Tramway Tunnel, reputedly the most intact tramline tunnel in Victoria.[17][18]

References

  1. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Barramunga (suburb and locality)". Australian Census 2021 QuickStats. Retrieved 28 June 2022. 
  2. ^ a b Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Barramunga". 2021 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
  3. ^ "Barramunga (entry 100273)". VICNAMES. Government of Victoria. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
  4. ^ "Barramunga Victoria 3249". Google Maps. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
  5. ^ a b c d e "Barramunga". Victorian Places. Monash University. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h "Forrest History Summary Boards" (PDF). Forrest and District Historical Society. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
  7. ^ Blake, L. J. (1973). Vision and Realisation: A Centenary History of State Education in Victoria (Volume 2). Education Department of Victoria. p. 938.
  8. ^ "Barramunga State School - Number 2786". Historical Victorian State Schools Directory. 21 May 2025. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
  9. ^ a b Phoenix Auctions History. "Post Office List". Phoenix Auctions. Retrieved 25 January 2026.
  10. ^ "Advertising". The Colac Herald. Vol. XIX, no. 1821. Victoria, Australia. 7 February 1888. p. 3. Retrieved 26 January 2026 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. ^ "BARRAMUNGA". The Colac Herald. Vol. XLII, no. 4167. Victoria, Australia. 21 June 1909. p. 3. Retrieved 26 January 2026 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. ^ "THE FORESTS COMMISSION". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 16, 426. Victoria, Australia. 27 February 1899. p. 7. Retrieved 26 January 2026 – via National Library of Australia.
  13. ^ "BUSH FIRES IN THE COUNTRY". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 14, 564. Victoria, Australia. 1 March 1893. p. 6. Retrieved 26 January 2026 – via National Library of Australia.
  14. ^ "THE BUSH FIRES". The Colac Herald. Vol. XXXI, no. 2851. Victoria, Australia. 1 March 1898. p. 4. Retrieved 26 January 2026 – via National Library of Australia.
  15. ^ "NOTES AND EVENTS". The Colac Herald. Vol. XX, no. 1970. Victoria, Australia. 23 July 1889. p. 2. Retrieved 26 January 2026 – via National Library of Australia.
  16. ^ "COUNTRY REPORTS TELL OF IMPROVED POSITION". The Herald. No. 19, 240. Victoria, Australia. 16 January 1939. p. 3. Retrieved 26 January 2026 – via National Library of Australia.
  17. ^ "Henry's No. 1 Mill". Victorian Heritage Register. Heritage Victoria. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
  18. ^ "Henry's Tramway Tunnel". Victorian Heritage Register. Heritage Victoria. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
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