{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}} {{Use Australian English|date=August 2019}} {{Infobox Australian place | type = town | name = Trawalla | state = vic | image = TrawallaRoadhouse.JPG | caption = Closed roadhouse on the Western Highway, 2008 | use_lga_map = yes | coordinates = {{coord|37|26|S|143|28|E|display=inline,title}} | pushpin_label_position = right | lga = Pyrenees Shire | postcode = 3373 | est = 1839 | pop = 141 | pop_year = {{CensusAU|2016}} | pop_footnotes = <ref name=Census2006Y /> | elevation= | maxtemp = | mintemp = | rainfall = | stategov = Ripon | fedgov = Wannon | dist1 = 154 | dir1 = W | location1= Melbourne | dist2 = 41 | dir2 = W | location2= Ballarat | dist3 = 52 | dir3 = E | location3= Ararat | dist4 = 48 | dir4 = S | location4= Avoca }} '''Trawalla''' is a town in central Western Victoria, Australia, located on the Western Highway, {{convert|41|km|mi}} west of Ballarat and {{convert|154|km|mi}} west of Melbourne, in the Shire of Pyrenees. At the {{CensusAU|2006}}, Trawalla and the surrounding agricultural area had a population of 224.<ref name=Census2006Y>{{Census 2006 AUS|id=SSC26835|name=Trawalla (State Suburb) |accessdate=4 October 2010|quick=on}}</ref>
Trawalla sits at the headwaters of the Mount Emu Creek where it crosses the Western Highway. The original inhabitants of the area were the Moner Balug clan of the Wadawurrung people (also known as the Wathaurong), who had occupied the land for at least 6,500 years. They called the area ''Trawalla'', which means "wild water"<ref name=smythe>Smyth, R. B. (1878). The aborigines of Victoria With notes relating to the habits of the natives of other parts of Australia and Tasmania compiled from various sources for the Government of Victoria. Vol. I. Melbourne: J. Ferres. p178 {{cite web |url=http://www1.aiatsis.gov.au/exhibitions/languages/smyth_pdf/m0050587_a.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2010-02-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110320015743/http://www1.aiatsis.gov.au/exhibitions/languages/smyth_pdf/m0050587_a.pdf |archive-date=2011-03-20 }}. Retrieved 30 January 2010.</ref><ref>Pascoe, B. (2007). Convincing ground: Learning to fall in love with your country. Canberra: Aboriginal Studies Press. P264.</ref> or, possibly, "much rain".<ref name=smythe/> Excavations along the Western Highway in 2011-12 located large Aboriginal occupation areas on the alluvial banks of Mount Emu Creek. Material found included flaked and ground stone tools, ochre, and the remnants of hearths, which may have been used for the treatment of wood and animal hides.<ref>{{cite web |title=Trawalla Aboriginal Excavations |date=13 April 2023 |url=https://vincentclark.com.au/trawalla-aboriginal-excavations/ |publisher=Dr Vincent Clark Archaeology & Heritage Pty Ltd |access-date=2025-08-22}}</ref>
In 1836, the district was traversed and described by explorer Sir Thomas Mitchell after ascending Mount Cole. The first European settlers to arrive in the area were squatters, Kenneth William Kirkland, his wife Katherine Kirkland (née Hamilton), their daughter Agnes Anna, and Katherine's brothers Robert and James McGregor Hamilton,<ref>{{Citation |last=Hagger |first=Jean |title=Katherine Kirkland (1808–1892) |url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/kirkland-katherine-2312 |work=Australian Dictionary of Biography |access-date=2023-12-16 |place=Canberra |publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University |language=en}}</ref> and they established sheep and cattle grazing runs. ''Trawalla'' Station, was established by Hamilton in 1838 and acquired by Adolphus Goldsmith three years later. After passing through several owners, the property was taken over by Rear Admiral Bridges in 1887. It was under his ownership that Trawalla House was constructed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.heritageaustralia.com.au/search.php?state=VIC®ion=73&view=195 |title=Historical Towns Directory |access-date=11 April 2008 |publisher=Australian Heritage}}</ref>
Trawalla Post Office opened on 3 December 1864 at the time of closer settlement and closed 13 July 1974.<ref name = "a"> {{Cite web | publisher = Phoenix Auctions History | title = Post Office List | url = http://www.phoenixauctions.com.au/cgi-bin/wsPhoenix.sh/Viewpocdwrapper.p?SortBy=VIC&filter=*Trawalla* | access-date = 21 March 2021}}</ref> The Ararat railway line passes through the town, and Trawalla railway station opened with the line in August 1874. The station was closed on 4 October 1981.<ref>{{cite magazine |date=October 2006 | title = 'New Deal' for County Passengers - 25 years on | author = Scott Martin and Chris Banger |magazine= Newsrail | publisher = Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division) |page=319 }}</ref>
After Bridges' death in 1917, a large part of the Trawalla estate was acquired and subdivided by the Commonwealth Government as part of the soldier settlement scheme. Land was subdivided into 93 allotments, with sizes ranging from {{convert|250|acre}} to {{convert|680|acre}}. The land was deemed appropriate for grazing and farming.<ref>[http://wiki.prov.vic.gov.au/index.php/Trawalla_Estate_Soldier_Settlers " Trawalla Estate Soldier Settlers"] Retrieved on 20 September 2012.</ref>
The Langi Kal Kal pastoral run was subdivided for the same purpose after World War II in 1948.<ref>{{cite book | last = Nunan | first = Jim |author2=The Back-To-Trawalla Committee | title = Squatters and Soldiers: Trawalla 1839–1971 | publisher = Waller and Chester | location = Ballarat, Australia | pages = 18–23 | isbn = 0-9599408-0-4}}</ref> A local primary school, a roadhouse and the minimum-security prison farm HM Prison Langi Kal Kal, are the focal points of the area.
Trawalla is the birthplace of Australia's ninth Prime Minister James Henry Scullin, commonly known as Jim. He was born on 18 September 1876, and was the fifth of the nine children of John Scullin and Ann Logan, both immigrants from Derry, Ireland. His father, John Scullin had been a miner and later a platelayer on the railways. James Scullin attended small state schools, first at Trawalla and later at Mount Rowan near Ballarat.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nma.gov.au/schools/school_resources/resource_websites_and_interactives/primeministers/james_scullin/ |title=Prime Ministers of Australia: James Scullin |access-date=2008-04-11 |publisher=National Museum of Australia, Canberra |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071021183908/http://nma.gov.au/schools/school_resources/resource_websites_and_interactives/primeministers/james_scullin/ <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 21 October 2007}}</ref> He married Sarah McNamara in 1907, but had no children. He died in Melbourne on 28 January 1953. A memorial cairn is located close to where Scullin lived.
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==External links== {{commons category-inline}}
{{Towns in Pyrenees Shire}}
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Category:Towns in Victoria (state) Category:Australian soldier settlements