{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}} {{Use Australian English|date=August 2012}} {{Infobox Australian place | type = town | name = Tallarook | state = vic | image = Tallarook Main Street 001.JPG | caption = Main street of Tallarook with the Tallarook Hotel on the left | lga = Shire of Mitchell | postcode = 3659 | est = | pop = 736 | pop_year = {{CensusAU|2016}} | pop_footnotes = <ref name="ABS"/> | elevation= | coordinates = {{coord|37|06|0|S|145|06|0|E|display=inline,title}} | use_lga_map = yes | maxtemp = | mintemp = | rainfall = | stategov = [[Electoral district of Euroa|Euroa]] | fedgov = [[Division of Nicholls|Nicholls]] | dist1 = 88 | dir1 = N | location1= Melbourne | dist2 = 91 | dir2 = S | location2= Shepparton | dist3 = 13 | dir3 = SW | location3= [[Seymour, Victoria|Seymour]] | near-nw = [[Hilldene, Victoria|Hilldene]] | near-n = [[Seymour, Victoria|Seymour]] | near-ne = [[Whiteheads Creek, Victoria|Whiteheads Creek]] | near-w = [[Sugarloaf Creek, Victoria|Sugarloaf Creek]] | near-e = [[Whiteheads Creek, Victoria|Whiteheads Creek]] | near-sw = [[Broadford, Victoria|Broadford]] | near-s = [[Broadford, Victoria|Broadford]] | near-se = [[Strath Creek, Victoria|Strath Creek]] }} '''Tallarook''' {{IPAc-en|t|æ|l|ə|ˈ|r|ʊ|k}}<ref>''[[Macquarie Dictionary|Macquarie Dictionary, Fourth Edition]]'' (2005). Melbourne, The Macquarie Library Pty Ltd. {{ISBN|1-876429-14-3}}</ref> is a town the [[Shire of Mitchell]] [[Local government in Australia|local government area]] in central [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]], Australia. The town is in on the [[Hume Highway]], {{convert|88|km|mi}} north of the state capital, [[Melbourne]]. At the {{CensusAU|2011}}, Tallarook had a population of 789.<ref name="ABS">{{Census 2011 AUS|id=SSC21299|name=Tallarook (L) (State Suburb)|accessdate=2007-10-25|quick=on}}</ref>
Tallarook Post Office opened on 1 April 1861.<ref name = "a">{{Cite web | last = Phoenix Auctions History | title = Post Office List | url = http://www.phoenixauctions.com.au/cgi-bin/wsPhoenix.sh/Viewpocdwrapper.p?SortBy=VIC&filter=*Tallarook* | access-date = 24 March 2021}}</ref>
The town is known in Australia for the [[colloquialism]], "Things are crook in Tallarook", believed to date to the [[Great Depression]] and unemployed travellers seeking work.<ref name="Crook">{{cite web | last = Moore | first = Bruce | url = http://www.anu.edu.au/andc/pubs/ozwords/October_2003/ftc.html | title = From The Centre - October 2003 | publisher = The Australian National Dictionary Centre | accessdate = 2007-07-15}}</ref> The phrase became the basis of a song composed by [[Jack O'Hagan]]—''Things Is Crook in Tallarook''.<ref name=Song1>{{cite web|title=Jack O'Hagan|url=http://www.davidspicer.com.au/author/jack-ohagan|publisher=David Spicer Productions|accessdate=16 June 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Things is crook, in Tallarook|url=http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/1336258|publisher=National Library of Australia|accessdate=16 June 2012}}</ref> It also features in a song written by [[Garth Porter]] and [[Lee Kernaghan]], "Tallarook", released on [[The Outback Club]].
The main [[North East railway line|North East railway]] opened through the town in 1872 along with the [[Tallarook railway station|local railway station]], and a [[Mansfield railway line|branch railway to Mansfield]] was started in 1883, extended to [[Mansfield, Victoria|Mansfield]] in 1891, and [[Alexandra, Victoria|Alexandra]] in 1909, before being closed on 18 November 1978.<ref name="newsrail-line">{{cite magazine |date=March 1990 | title = Tracks Across the State | author = Sid Brown |magazine= Newsrail | publisher = Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division) | pages =71–76}}</ref>
Tallarook came to public attention in 1880 with the discovery of a recluse living in the ranges nearby. Dubbed ''A Wildman at Tallarook'',<ref>The Argus 03/08/1880 p. 6</ref> emigrant Henricke Nelsen was arrested and jailed, causing quite a sensation in the region. He is the subject of a 2008 book<ref>''They Called Me The Wildman'' 2008</ref> by [[Robert Hollingworth]]. While this book fictionalises Nelsen's life, much of the region's early history is also detailed. The town is home to a cricket club competing in the Seymour District Cricket Association.
The industrialist [[Essington Lewis]] settled near Tallarook on his property, ''Landscape'' in his later years until his death in 1961.<ref name="Lewis">{{cite Australian Dictionary of Biography | last = Blainey | first = Geoffrey | authorlink = Geoffrey Blainey |author2=Smith, Ann G. |id=A100084b | title = Lewis, Essington (1881–1961) | accessdate = 2007-05-21}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category-inline|Tallarook, Victoria}} *[http://www.visittallarook.com.au/ Community website] *[http://www.railtrails.org.au/trail?view=trail&id=90 Goulburn River High Country Rail Trail]
{{Towns in Mitchell Shire}}
{{authority control}}
[[Category:Towns in Victoria (state)]] [[Category:Shire of Mitchell]] [[Category:1861 establishments in Australia]] [[Category:Hume Highway]]