View source for Yallourn

{{Short description|Former town in Victoria, Australia}}
{{Use Australian English|date=May 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
[[Image:Overview-of-yallourn-victoria.jpg|thumb|280px|Overview of Yallourn, 1948]]

'''Yallourn''' was a [[company town]] in [[Victoria (state)|Victoria]], [[Australia]], built between 1921<ref>Meredith Fletcher ''Digging People Up For Coal: A History of Yallourn'' Melbourne University Press, South Carlton 2002 p. 19</ref> and 1961<ref>Meredith Fletcher ''Digging People Up For Coal: A History of Yallourn'' Melbourne University Press, South Carlton 2002 p. 163</ref> to house employees of the [[State Electricity Commission of Victoria]] (SECV), who operated the nearby [[Yallourn Power Station]] complex. However, expansion of the adjacent [[open-pit mining|open-cut]] [[lignite|brown coal]] mine led to the closure and removal of the town in the 1980s. Whilst the township no longer exists, at the {{CensusAU|2006}}, the adjacent region classified as Yallourn had a population of 251.<ref name=Census2006Y>{{Census 2006 AUS|id=SSC27069|name=Yallourn (State Suburb) |accessdate=31 October 2010|quick=on}}</ref>

== Design ==
The town was planned by A.R. La Gerche, the SECV's Architect.<ref>'Notes of General Interest', ''Journal of the Royal Victorian Institute of Architects'', March, 1939 p.8</ref> It is sometimes mistakenly thought to have been designed by [[Walter Burley Griffin]], who planned [[Canberra]], Australia's capital city.

The design of Yallourn incorporated lessons learnt from the early UK garden cities of [[Welwyn Garden City]] and [[Letchworth Garden City]] inspired by the work of [[Ebenezer Howard]]. It included a formal central square adjacent to the shopping area and a "Broadway" bounded by parks between the shopping area and railway station.  The whole town area was surrounded by a green belt varying between native vegetation, open parkland and sporting and recreational complexes.

The majority of the land and buildings, with the churches and several minor properties as the exceptions, were owned by the SECV. The town was rapidly constructed and by 1927 was described in newspapers as a "model town" and "perfectly self-contained".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Yallourn - Interesting Facts All Should Know |url=
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/264529992/ |date=1928-01-27 |access-date=2024-09-22 |newspaper= The Narracan Shire Advocate and Yallourn Brown Coal Mine, Walhalla and Thorpdale Lines Echo |language=en-US}}</ref>

Residents were charged below market rentals and the SECV adopted the role of paternalistic landlord in addition to its role as employer to the majority of the town's income earners. The conflicts this created caused continuing concern throughout the life of the town. For the majority of the town's life, citizen involvement was limited, residents being represented in their dealings with the SECV by a Town Advisory Council that was established in 1947.<ref name=prov>{{cite web |url=http://www.access.prov.vic.gov.au/public/component/daPublicBaseContainer?component=daViewAgency&entityId=1002 |title=State Electricity Commission of Victoria |publisher=Public Record Office Victoria |access-date=2010-03-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091006194727/http://www.access.prov.vic.gov.au/public/component/daPublicBaseContainer?component=daViewAgency&entityId=1002 |archive-date=6 October 2009 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

Houses within the town were constructed to a limited number of designs but these were varied by differing external detailing and surface finishes. A brick and tile manufacturing plant was built near the town and produced a characteristic terracotta roofing tile which was used to clad most homes. The pitch of the roof structure and overhanging eaves remained similar throughout the town, providing a common theme without the sameness characteristic of English garden city developments. The homes were placed on large plots, typically of 1000 m<sup>2</sup>, the design brief from General Sir John Monash, the initial SECV chairman requiring that each plot should have sufficient land to permit the tenant to keep a horse and a garden.

The town boasted outstanding public facilities many years in advance of similar rural or suburban communities of similar size, the majority funded by the SECV. A close community spirit developed within the town, in part through enthusiastic usage of the excellent facilities.

==External communications==
The [[Yallourn railway line]] was opened to the town in January 1922 as a branch junctioning at Hernes Oak on the [[Gippsland railway line]]; this line was replaced by a one on an easier gradient extending east from [[Moe, Victoria|Moe]] in September 1953, which was electrified in 1955.<ref name="elect" >{{cite book | last = S.E. Dornan and R.G. Henderson | title = Electric Railways of Victoria | publisher = Australian Electric Traction Society | page = 88 | year = 1979 | isbn = 0-909459-06-1}}</ref> The local railway station closed to passengers in the 1960s,<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://arrow.monash.edu.au/hdl/1959.1/4625
|title=Yallourn Railway Station
|work=Monash University ARROW Repository
|publisher=arrowprod.lib.monash.edu.au
|access-date=2008-06-19
}}</ref> with the line then being used primarily to haul [[briquettes]] from the [[Yallourn Power Station#Briquette factory|Yallourn briquette factory]]. When the factory closed, the line was used to haul briquettes from the Morwell factory to Yallourn, as briquettes were used as the initial fuel when lighting the furnaces in the power station until enough steam was generated to dry the brown coal used as the main fuel. Closure of the line occurred in 1986 when the transport of briquettes shifted to trucks.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.victorianrailways.net/vr%20history/history.html
|title=VR History
|publisher=victorianrailways.net
|access-date=2008-06-18
}}</ref>

Yallourn Post Office opened on 8 October 1923 (being renamed from Western Camp which opened the previous year) and closed in 1980 when the town was removed. An earlier Yallourn Post Office opened in 1921 and was renamed Eastern Camp in 1923. Another Western Camp Post Office opened in 1924 and closed in 1968.<ref name = "a">{{Cite web | last = Phoenix Auctions History  | title = Post Office List | url = http://www.phoenixauctions.com.au/cgi-bin/wsPhoenix.sh/Viewpocdwrapper.p?SortBy=VIC&filter=*Yallourn* | access-date = 13 March 2021 }}</ref>

== Closure ==
[[File:CSIRO ScienceImage 2646 Yallourn Power Station.jpg|thumb|Yallourn W Power Station led to the town's removal]]

At its peak the town's population reached 5000. However, in 1968 the SECV decided to demolish the town to make way for further mining. Despite an attempted [[green ban]] to save the town,<ref>{{Cite book|title=Green Bans, Red Union: Environmental Activism and the New South Wales Builders Labourers' Federation|last=Burgmann|first=Verity and Meredith|year=1998|pages=50}}</ref> by 1983 demolition was complete,<ref name=prov /> the underlying brown coal reserves being used to feed the [[Yallourn Power Station|Yallourn W Power Station]]. Many of the people who were relocated from Yallourn built homes in [[Moe, Victoria|Moe]], [[Morwell]], [[Newborough, Victoria|Newborough]], [[Traralgon]], [[Yallourn North]] and other surrounding towns in the [[Latrobe Valley]].

Many of the houses from the town were removed, either to these nearby towns, or on occasion moved further afield.  The timber-framed buildings were reclad, although most retained their characteristic Yallourn tiled roof. The SECV developed some properties, particularly in small developments in nearby Newborough where Yallourn houses were removed and samples of the conversions that were possible were showcased. These transplanted Yallourn homes remain popular with former Yallourn residents.

==Sport==
Golfers play at the course of the Yallourn Golf Club on Golf Links Road in neighbouring Yallourn Heights.<ref name = "golf">{{Cite web  | author= Golf Select | title = Yallourn | url = http://www.golfselect.com.au/armchair/courseView.aspx?course_id=338 | access-date = 2009-05-11  }}</ref>

Yallourn is widely credited as being among the catalyst for the success of soccer in the Latrobe Valley,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lobley |first=Murray |date=2013-05-31 |title=History of the Yallourn SC, Episode 1 |url=http://www.virtualyallourn.com/stories/history-yallourn-soccer-club-ysc-episode-1by-murray-lobley/ |access-date=2023-09-12 |website=Virtually Yallourn |language=en-US}}</ref> fielding many organised teams in the [[Latrobe Valley Soccer League]], including the [[Newborough-Yallourn_United SC|Yallourn Soccer Club]] - which in the 1950s had as many as 15 teams, including 12 schoolboy teams<ref>{{Cite web |date=1950-07-19 |title=Yallourn Run Fifteen Teams |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/22906386/ |access-date=2023-09-22 |newspaper=The Argus |language=en-US}}</ref> - and smaller clubs, such as Red Triangle Yallourn (composed of workers from the town's East and West Camps) and the Yallourn YMCA.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1954-05-19 |title=Soccer |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/267463078?searchTerm=gas%20and%20fuel%20soccer |access-date=2023-09-22 |newspaper=Live Wire |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1950-03-30 |title=Soccer Notes|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/66121683 |access-date=2023-09-22 |newspaper=Morwell Advertiser |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 1947, [[Newborough-Yallourn_United SC|Yallourn SC]] was granted entry into the [[National Premier Leagues Victoria|Men's State League Division 2]] in an effort to give the Gippsland region exposure to the highest level of soccer.

After winning promotion in 1950 to the highest division in the [[National Premier Leagues Victoria|Victorian State League]], Yallourn was crowned Victorian Champions in 1951. Yallourn won the league title by four points, losing only once all season.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/States/VIC/1951D1T.html|title = Victorian Division One Table - 1951}}</ref>

Yallourn SC also fielded a local team in the [[Latrobe Valley Soccer League|LVSL]] - which it helped to found - and won league championships in 1964 and 1996, as well as four Battle of Britain Cups (1954, 1964, 1965 and 1966).

With the closure of the township in the 1970s, Yallourn SC amalgamated with nearby Newborough United and today still exists as the [[Newborough-Yallourn United SC|Newborough-Yallourn United]], which celebrated its 100 year anniversary in 2023. For the centenary season, the club adopted a commemorative 'Yallourn' emblem and wore the original Yallourn SC's red jersey with a distinctive 'Y' emblazoned on the front of the kit, as per the original club.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=630282112218526&set=pb.100057102295332.-2207520000|title = NYUSC Official Page| website=[[Facebook]] }}</ref>

The club's first president was a pioneering figure of sport in Yallourn, W. H. Brewer. Nicknamed "Dad",<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 2, 1943 |title=Yallourn Brickworks Has Changed Hands|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/267452679 |access-date=August 27, 2025 |language=en-US |newspaper=LiveWire}}</ref> not only was Brewer the first president of Yallourn Soccer Club, he was president of the [[Latrobe Valley Soccer League|Central Gippsland Soccer Association]] for two years. His reputation as the "father of Yallourn's sporting bodies" was cemented by being president of Yallourn Football Club for 12 seasons, president (and founding member) of the Yallourn Cricket Club for 16 season and the first president of the Yallourn Oval Trust - and a founding member of the Yallourn Bowling Club, serving as both president and vice-president.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 19, 1937 |title=Sports "Father" - Yallourn's Tribute - Remarkable Record |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/11050030 |access-date=August 19, 2025 |language=en-US |newspaper=The Argus}}</ref>

In June 1952, during the [[1952 VFL season]], a senior [[Victorian Football League (1897–1989)|Australian Football League]] (formerly the VFL) game between Footscray and St Kilda was played at Yallourn Oval, with St Kilda being victorious. The match was organised as part of an effort by the [[Australian National Football Council]] (ANFC) to promote the sport, and the other matches in the round were played in [[Albury, New South Wales|Albury]], [[Brisbane]], [[Euroa]], [[Hobart]], and [[Sydney]] (all non-standard venues). The match in Yallourn was affected by rain, but still drew a crowd estimated at 3,500 people.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=Sporting Globe|publication-place=Melbourne|title=Yallourn says "come again"|date=18 June 1952|page=12|author=Frank Walsh}}</ref><ref>[http://afltables.com/afl/venues/yallourn_gm.html Yallourn - All Games], AFL Tables. Retrieved 15 December 2016.</ref>

==Notable residents==
*[[Gaele Sobott]], author, born in Yallourn<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/A137377 |title=Gaele Sobott |website= [[AustLit]] |publisher=[[University of Queensland]]|access-date=19 January 2018}}</ref>
*[[Marjorie Thorpe (Aboriginal Australian)|Marjorie Thorpe]], Aboriginal activist,  daughter of [[Alma Thorpe#Personal life and family|Alma Thorpe]] and mother of politician [[Lidia Thorpe]], coordinator of SNAICC as well as director of the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency<ref>{{cite web | title=Thorpe, Marjorie | website=AWR | date=14 September 2023 | url=https://www.womenaustralia.info/entries/thorpe-marjorie/ | access-date=11 August 2024}}</ref> 
*[[Pat Kennelly]] Victorian Labour Party Senator for Victoria from 1953 to 1971<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://biography.senate.gov.au/kennelly-patrick-john/|title=KENNELLY, Patrick John (1900–1981) Senator for Victoria, 1953–71 (Australian Labor Party) &#124; The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate|website=biography.senate.gov.au}}</ref>

{{coord|38|11|S|146|20|E|region:AU_type:city|display=title}}

== Documentaries ==
In 1974 the SECV made a living history documentary about Yallourn, ''Born to Die''.<ref>Peter Read Returning to Nothing: The Meaning of Lost Places 1996 – p. 98 "The film Born to Die commissioned by the SEC gave inhabitants – unlike the Adaminaby residents – opportunities to speak about their feelings. 'It's not born to die it's born to live and it's living now; Isn't this a town worth keeping; How much is ..."</ref><ref>Australian Folklore -1995 p. 167 "These records include several official Inquiries, the draft of the play 'The Yallourn Show', the exhibition 'Yallourn Revisited', the film 'Born to Die', the complete series of the Yallourn newspaper (under several titles) and many transcribed ..."</ref> In June 2008, the [[ABC Radio (Australia)|ABC Radio]] program ''Hindsight'' presented a two-hour radio documentary about the history of Yallourn, ''The Model Town and the Machine: A History of Yallourn''.<ref>ABC Hindsight: "The Model Town and the Machine: A History of Yallourn" [http://www.abc.net.au/rn/hindsight/stories/2008/2258249.htm Part 1 of 2]; [http://www.abc.net.au/rn/hindsight/stories/2008/2262812.htm Part 2 of 2]</ref>

==In music==
The [[Weddings, Parties, Anything]] song ''Industrial town'' is about Yallourn. The band's frontman [[Mick Thomas]] was born in Yallourn and lived there as a child, where his father worked for the SECV.<ref>Time Out Melbourne [http://www.au.timeout.com/melbourne/music/features/2595/mick-thomas-interview "Mick Thomas: Interview" 6 June 2013] Retrieved 1 March 2015.</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}
* {{cite book
  | last = Edwards
  | first = Cecil
  | title = Brown Power. A jubilee history of the SECV
  | publisher = [[State Electricity Commission of Victoria]]
  | year = 1969
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last = Gill
  | first = Herman
  | title = Three Decades: The story of the State Electricity Commission of Victoria from its inception to December 1948
  | publisher = Hutchinson & Co
  | year = 1949
  }}

== External links ==
* [http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/ahc/publications/commission/books/ourhouse/vic10.html Biography of a Yallourn House]
* [http://www.yallourn.org/ Yallourn Old Girls Association]
* [http://www.virtualyallourn.com/ Virtual Yallourn]
* [https://www.yynfnc.com/ Official Yallourn Yallourn North FC website]
* [https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/23253527/ Yallourn FC History]
* [https://australianfootball.com/clubs/stats/Yallourn+Yallourn+North/1781/ Yallourn Yallourn North FC History]
* [https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/224473054/24189186/ 1933 - Yallourn FC & Sale FC team photos]
* [https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/225714586/23950264/ 1937 - Yallourn Blue FC & Warragul FC team photos]
* [https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/224439893/24123743#/ 1939 - Yallourn Blue FC & Leongatha FC team photos]
* [https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/24196548/ 1951 - Yallourn FC team photo]

{{Towns in the City of Latrobe}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:1920s establishments in Australia]]
[[Category:Planned communities in Australia]]
[[Category:Company towns in Australia]]
[[Category:Resumed localities in Australia]]
[[Category:Green bans]]
[[Category:Towns in Victoria (state)]]
[[Category:City of Latrobe]]