Cobram

Overview

The township of Cobram sits on the border between Victoria and New South Wales and is fondly referred to as 'Peaches and Cream Country' as dairy and fruit are the two main industries.

The region is also rich in other produce including citrus fruits, vegetables, wheat, oats, barley, sunflowers, wool and beef cattle.

Historic buildings, riverside beaches and houseboating are but a few attractions of this picturesque town that is ready for film making.

History

The area is thought to have been occupied by the Bangarang Aborigines prior to white settlement. Charles Sturt explored the Murray downstream of the present townsite in 1830 and, in 1838, he led a droving party with 300 head of cattle through the district, en route to South Australia. Cobram station was taken up in 1845 by Octavius Phillpotts.

The Land Acts of the 1860s opened up the district to small landowners. The first arrived in 1872 and by the 1880s most of the land was settled by wheat-growing selectors, although diversification had occurred by the end of the century as intensive wheat farming was depleting the soil.

A store, post office and school were in operation by 1880 and a sawmill was set up in 1883. In 1886 locals lobbied for the extension of the railway into the area as a terminus could act as a collection point and shipment centre for the wheat-growers. The site was chosen by a surveyor, and the selector who owned the land in question soon broke it up into town lots which went on sale in 1887. All of the usual infrastructure - hotels, businesses, a school, a doctor, a foundry, banks, a cordial factory, stores, churches and a newspaper - had appeared by late 1888 when the first train arrived. The railway signalled the decline of the river trade but the paddlesteamers were still a part of the passenger service in the early days of the town. A punt service was established in 1889 and the first bridge was opened in 1902.

Places of interest

Sturt Monument
The Masonic lodge
Cobram Hotel
Murray River Beaches
Quinn Island
Ozzie Orange Juice
Strawberry Picking

Accommodation

The Cobram-Barooga Visitor Information Centre is located in a 1910 grain shed at the corner of Station St, which was the town's commercial centre prior to 1900, and Punt Rd.

Telephone: 03 5872 2132
Free Call: 1800 659 258

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