You Are Here : Home / Discover Yarriambiack/ Towns To Visit / Hopetoun

Hopetoun

In 1846 Peter McGinnis guided by a friendly aboriginal followed what is now known as the Yarriambiack Creek from Horsham to Lake Corrong looking for unoccupied land for sheep grazing. He was the first European pastoralist to settle in the Mallee. He was joined by his wife, family and partner George Bell and established the Lake Corrong Run. Corrong Homestead can still be seen on the original site surrounded by McGinnis Park and is a tribute to the early pioneers.

This successful property was subsequently purchased by Mr. Edward Lascelles and partners in 1878. He became known as “The Father of the Mallee” and his vision, courage and their collective enterprise was responsible for opening up The Mallee.

Hopetoun is named after Lord Hopetoun the Governor of Victoria and later Australia’s first Governor General who often visited Lake Corrong Homestead as a guest of Edward Lascelles.

The first sales of township blocks too place in 1891 and the construction of shops and houses soon followed. Water was diverted along natural watercourses from the Grampians in 1899 to service the new settlers and by 1907 the water was reticulated through open channels. Both the supply of water and the development of the railway were crucial to opening up the region for farmers.