Murtoa - Culture and History

It is speculated that the Jaadwa Aborigines occupied the district prior to white settlement. The area was known as Marma Gully until the township started to develop in the early 1870s. The present name derives from a local Aboriginal word thought to mean 'home of the lizard'.

The first European in the area was Major Mitchell on his excursion to 'Australia Felix' in 1836. Squatters established the 'Ashens' and 'Longerenong' runs in 1844. The latter property was acquired, in 1862, by politician, philanthropist and pastoralist Sir Samuel Wilson who was elected to the British House of Commons in 1886. His 1862 homestead is still standing to the west of town. It has been authoritatively described as 'the finest Gothic villa in western Victoria'.

Wilson owned all of the land around Lake Marma by 1871. That year a station hand at 'Longerenong' pegged out the first freehold block on the eastern side of the lake. As was the case throughout western Victoria, closer settlement began with German wheat-farmers from Mt Gambier investigating the land across the border and taking up selections. Thus a party of Germans arrived at the lake in 1871. Finding the soil fertile they pegged out claims, finished up their business at Mt Gambier and returned to Marma Gully in 1872.

After delays caused by Wilson's objections the township was finally surveyed around 1876. An emphasis on religion and education was manifest in the early establishment of a building in 1873 which served as a school, a site for Lutheran services and a public hall until the Board of Education took over the facility in 1875. Indicative of conditions in colonial country settlements, this one-room structure (the teacher slept at one end) was made of saplings plugged with mud. The floor was earthen and the roof was thatched with reeds from Lake Marma. It was replaced by a proper school building in 1877.

A post office was opened in 1874, a flour mill and Presbyterian Church were established in 1876 and the police set up shop in 1877, the same year the Lutherans built St John's. A Catholic church followed in 1880, an Anglican establishment in 1887 and a Methodist church in 1892. Local newspaper, The Dunmunkle Standard, was first published in 1878 and, in 1881, a mechanics' institute was built and an agricultural society was formed. The railway arrived in 1879 and the town was, for a short time, the railhead for wheat shipment in the Wimmera. Consequently the district and township expanded and prospered.

A freezing works was established in 1909 to export lamb to London although it closed in 1939. The bulk wheat storage facilities at Marmalake were built in 1942 as wheat could not be exported during World War II.

The major social event in the local calender is the Big Weekend held in October when there is a general celebration which coincides with the local show. Events include an arts show, poetry readings and a race meeting. There are about a half-dozen race meetings each year and these are very well attended events. The town also has an attractive golf course in a bush setting surrounded by flora and birdlife.