40 km, north-east of Melbourne, Yarra Glen is situated a little north of a flood plain through which the Yarra River flows. It is believed to have been named after the Yarra Glen station, a grazing property of 12 sq. miles.
It was the open flood plain that attracted early pastoralists, such as the Ryrie brothers, who overlanded stock from New South Wales and settled in the Yarra Glen district at Tarrawarra and Yering in 1836.
Settlers moving out from Melbourne later penetrated the Yarra Valley from that direction, pushing beyond the Yarra Glen district to Healesville. Their route, known as the Yarra Track, passed through Yarra Flats, the early name for Yarra Glen.
Yarra Glen had a hotel, post office and primary school by 1870, and numerous surrounding holdings ran stock or had vineyards for wine production (the Ryrie brothers had planted vines in 1838). The area was still known as Yarra Flats at that time, and the settlement as Burgoyne.
The name Yarra Glen was given to the school, post office and the railway station in 1888-9, when the railway line from Lilydale to Healesville was built on a wooden bridge nearly two kilometres long, to raise it above the flood plain.
Yarra Glen township’s residential population increased during the 1980s, as improved highways made commuting to work in metropolitan Melbourne more convenient and acceptable. (Commuting was by motor vehicle, as the railway line had been closed in 1980 – later to be revived as the Yarra Valley Tourist railway.)
Yarra Glen’s census populations have been 417 (1911), 362 (1947), 515 (1971) and 1,183 (1991).
Source:www.arts.monash.edu.au/ncas/multimedia/gazetteer/list/yarraglen.html
Now the heart of the vibrant Yarra Valley tourist and wine region, Yarra Glen is anything but a sleepy hamlet – especially on the weekends when the village plays host to crowds of happy wanderers enjoying the open space, clean air, fine wine and fresh local produce.
The renaissance of Yarra Glen has made the rural lifestyle amid stunning views and fertile pastures the envy of many metropolitan Melburnians, but long-term residents have seen some tough times.
Frank Hoogenraad, of Hoogie’s Hardware in the main street, has seen significant changes over the twenty years he has lived and worked in the area.
“Twenty years ago, many of the residents were older people whose farms had been in the family for generations,” Frank recalls. “Sub division created some affordable housing that attracted young families, but there was little work available locally and most businesses in the township were struggling. We were even considering creating a Light Industrial Zone to generate employment.”
“Then about ten years ago the De Bortoli vineyard was established, employing local people and utilising goods and services in the area. The astonishing growth of the wine industry in the Yarra Valley since then, and the volume of tourists that it now attracts, has been an absolute boon. Businesses are prospering, property values are better than they’ve ever been and there’s new life and energy in the town.”
“I may be a little sad that some aspects of life in and around Yarra Glen have changed,” adds Frank, “but I realise that we’ve been very lucky to be the beneficiaries of a thriving industry that actually enhances the beauty of the valley we love. It could so easily have been a very different story.”
