Strathmerton is a town in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. It is located in the

Shire of Moira Moira Shire Council is a Local Government Area in the Northern Victoria Region of Victoria, Australia. Located in the north-east part of the state, it covers an area of . As at August 2021 the population was 30,522. It includes the towns of C ...

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

on the

Murray Valley Highway Murray Valley Highway is a rural highway located in Victoria (state), Victoria (with a short western tail in New South Wales), Australia, between Euston, New South Wales and Corryong, Victoria. The popular tourist route mostly follows the sout ...

and

Goulburn Valley Highway Goulburn Valley Highway is a highway located in Victoria, Australia, linking Tocumwal on the Murray River through North Central Victoria to Eildon. The section north of the Hume Freeway (part of which is Goulburn Valley Freeway) is part of the ...

, about west of Cobram. At the , Strathmerton had a population of 1072.

Toponymy

Benjamin Boyd Benjamin Boyd (21 August 180115 October 1851) was a Scotland, Scottish entrepreneur who became a major shipowner, banker, Squatting (Australia), grazier, politician and Blackbirding, blackbirder in the British colony of New South Wales. He wa ...

, who was one of the earliest landowners in the district, initially named his property 'Ulupna'. He later changed it to Strathmerton from 'Merton', the name of his family home in Scotland, and 'strath', a Gaelic word meaning 'valley'.

History

Strathmerton Post Office opened on 1 September 1879. In 1888 on the arrival of the railway a Strathmerton Township Post Office opened near the station. In 1891 this was renamed Strathmerton. The local railway station was opened on the railway to Cobram in 1888, with the line to Tocumwal opened in 1905. The last regular passenger service was in 1993. Before road changes, Strathmerton was known as the intersection of the Goulburn Valley Highway and the Murray Valley Highway and was the northernmost town directly north of Melbourne still in Victoria. The Kraft factory in Strathmerton was acquired by Bega Cheese in December 2008 with Bega claiming that production will double in the following five years. On May 6, 2025 Bega announced their intention to shut down their Strathmerton factory by mid-2026, in a move that was expected to save the company $30 million annually. The lay-offs are expected to directly affect around 300 employees within area and expected cause a negative ripple-on effect for the township.

Today

The town is served by the Strathmerton Primary School. Other than a few small businesses, the only industries of note are the large

Bega Cheese The Bega Group is an Australian diversified food and drinks company with manufacturing sites in New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and Victoria. Founded as an agricultural cooperative in the town of Bega, New South Wales by thei ...

factory and the Booth Transport Milk Transfer Depot. The surrounding rural area consists of mainly

irrigated Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has be ...

dairy A dairy is a place where milk is stored and where butter, cheese, and other dairy products are made, or a place where those products are sold. It may be a room, a building, or a larger establishment. In the United States, the word may also des ...

and

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

farms. There are several beaches and camping spots just to the north of Strathmerton along the

Murray River The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray; Ngarrindjeri language, Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta language, Yorta Yorta: ''Dhungala'' or ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is List of rivers of Australia, Aust ...

in and adjacent to the Barmah State Forest. The local

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team, Strathmerton Football Club competes in the

Picola & District Football League The Picola & District Football Netball League (PDFNL) is an Australian rules football and netball league. The league covers a large area of northern Victoria (state), Victoria and southern New South Wales from Shepparton in the south to Jerild ...

. The Strathmerton Lawn Bowls Club is a popular social and recreational focal point for locals and visitors. Golfers play at the course of the Strathmerton Golf Club.

References

External links

Strathmerton Primary SchoolStrathmerton Football Club
{{authority control Towns in Victoria (state) Shire of Moira

Toponymy

History

Today

See also

References

External links