Bruthen is ~300 km ATCF east of Melbourne (the capital of Victoria: 'As the Crow Flies'), and has population of about 600.
Explorer of the Gippsland region, Angus McMillan passed through the area in April 1840.
With a small shopping area, a historic General Store (opened in 1860), and local Brewpub, there are a few reasons to stop and take a walk around the grassy streets. In November 1958 an RAAF Avon-Sabre Fighter jet crashed about 4 km north of town, with the pilot, Flight Lieutenant Ralph Oborn able to safely eject at 500 feet elevation, after the jet flamed out at 40,000 feet. There is a memorial piece of the aircraft in the small park.
A History 'Timeline' is given on the local tourist website: (
visit link)
* Prior to the arrival of Europeans the area was occupied by the Kurnai Aboriginal people who had lived in the area for at least one hundred generations.
* The first Europeans arrived around Bruthen in the 1840s. They were using the valley as a route from the Monaro to the Gippsland Plains. In 1840 the explorer Angus McMillan passed through the area.
* In 1845 Matthew and Thomas Macalister established Kilmorie run.
* By 1858 a hotel, store and blacksmith were established at Bruthen on the route to the Omeo goldfields.
* In 1859 the town was officially surveyed and laid out.
* By the 1860s settlers had moved into the Tambo River valley and wheat, oats and potatoes were being successfully grown.
* Around the 1860s steamers started coming up the Tambo to Bruthen where they collected produce from the local area. A wharf was built at Mossiface downstream from Bruthen.
* A bridge was constructed over the Tambo River at Bruthen in 1872. That same year a school was opened.
* In 1882 Bruthen became the administrative centre of Tambo Shire.
* By 1888 the town had three hotels.
* By 1904 the town's population had reached 400.
* A post office was opened in 1911. The township was renamed Wiseleigh.
* In 1915 the area stopped producing hops and maize took over as the main crop.
* In 1916 a regular rail service to Bairnsdale and Orbost was established.
* By the 1930s the river had silted up and steamer traffic stopped.
* In 1935 the rail passenger services ceased.
* In 1958 an RAAF Avon-Sabre fighter jet crashed near Bruthen.
* Today the district's main industries are wool, honey, timber and vegetables.
Visited: Thursday, 12 may, 2016