| Wallan Victoria |
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Wallan from the top of Green Hill |
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Wallan
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| Population: | 5,410 (2006 Census) | ||||||||||||
| Postcode: | 3756 | ||||||||||||
| Elevation: | 308 m (1,010 ft) | ||||||||||||
| Location: | 46 km (29 mi) from Melbourne | ||||||||||||
| LGA: | Shire of Mitchell | ||||||||||||
| County: | Bourke | ||||||||||||
| Parish: | Wallan Wallan | ||||||||||||
| State District: | Seymour | ||||||||||||
| Federal Division: | McEwen | ||||||||||||
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Wallan (i/ˈwɒlən/) or Wallan Wallan is a town in Victoria, 50 kilometres (31 mi) from Melbourne on the Northern Highway in Australia. The town sits at the southern end of the large and diverse Shire of Mitchell which extends from the northern fringes of Melbourne into the farming country of north-central Victoria and the lower Goulburn Valley. The township flanks the Northern Highway and is set against the backdrop of the Great Dividing Range.[1] At the 2006 census, Wallan had a population of 5,410.[2]
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The fastest growing town in the shire, Wallan is a link between the city and rural towns as Kilmore, Broadford and Seymour. 15 kilometres to the north is a turnoff to Strath Creek which leads through the Valley of a Thousand Hills.[1]
A Wallan Wallan Post Office opened on 1 April 1858. A Wallan Railway Station Post Office opened on 1 October 1873, later renamed as Wallan Wallan East and closing in 1992.[3]
The first and only surviving store was begun by Hugh and Margaret Sinclair about 1860 with their 2 storey residence. In 1867 Thomas O'Dwyer began a store where the Wallan Hotel now stands. He converted the store to the Woodmans Arms Hotel in 1883. George Wallder and John Kyle supplied meat to the township. The first church erected in Wallan was a wooden building at cost 71 pounds and was opened by the Methodist residents in 1865. Wallan became part of the preaching circuit in 1864 and the following year the modest chapel was built.
In the past, Wallan was a small village with only a few houses and a shop, but today it is known for the Hidden Valley Housing Development 1 kilometre (1 mi) to the north. Until 1997 this was a private farm, however it has now been developed as a residential estate with a golf course running through the middle.[4]
The Wellington Square Shopping Centre, opened in 2004, includes many corporate franchise businesses (mainly Victoria's biggest supermarket chain Safeway), creating competition for the already existing Coles Supermarket across the road.
In 2009, Wallan was used as a relief centre for those from surrounding towns affected by the Black Saturday fires.[5]
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