Rosedale, Victoria

Rosedale Victoria
Statue of the Melbourne Cup winner, Patrobas at Rosedale.
Rosedale
Coordinates	38°09′00″S 146°46′59″E / 38.15°S 146.783°E / -38.15; 146.783Coordinates: 38°09′00″S 146°46′59″E / 38.15°S 146.783°E / -38.15; 146.783
Population	1,077 (2006 census)
Postcode(s)	3847
Location	188 km (117 mi) E of Melbourne 30 km (19 mi) W of Sale 15 km (9 mi) E of Traralgon
LGA(s)	Shire of Wellington
County	Buln Buln
State electorate(s)	Gippsland South
Federal Division(s)	Gippsland
Mean max temp Mean min temp Annual rainfall 45 °C 113 °F -4 °C 25 °F ?

Rosedale is a pastoral and agricultural town 184 kilometres east of Melbourne via the Princes Highway. It is situated on the southern side of the LaTrobe River. Once a staging post on the Port Albert to Sale and Port Albert to Walhalla coach runs, it was the administrative centre of the Shire of Rosedale which extended to the east and included the Ninety Mile Beach. It is now part of the Wellington Shire centred in Sale. At the 2006 census, Rosedale had a population of 1,077. The town is in the area of Gippsland explored separately by the Scotsman, Angus McMillan, and the Polish aristocrat, Count Paul von Strzelecki, in 1840. A memorial to McMillan is located in Rosedale, and one to Strzelecki near Traralgon to the west. McMillan named the region Gippsland after Governor Gipps.

The earliest European inhabitant in the district is thought to have been a man named Blind Joe who lived in a hut on the Latrobe River and the first sale of 'town lots' in Rosedale, on 20 May 1855, took place there. The town is named after and built upon the site of a station owned by David Parry-Okedon, who, in 1843, called his run Rosedale after his wife, Rosalie. The earliest known plan of the township is dated March 27, 1855. It comprised 14 blocks and remains the central layout of the township.

For two decades, Gippsland was sparsely populated, relying on the supply of livestock to Tasmania for its prosperity. With discovery of gold at Stringer's Creek in 1863, the region was to change. Within a decade, the Long Tunnel mine at Walhalla had become one of the richest in the world, as prospectors and miners converged on the mountain. Transport hubs like Rosedale, Sale and Port Albert expanded as farmers found a ready market for their produce.

The first brick construction was the Rosedale Hotel in 1858, built by William Allen, who emigrated from London in 1854. He was also responsible for the construction of the Mechanic's Institute, the original school house, the Exchange Hotel, the three churches and Nambrok Homestead. The Rosedale Post Office opened on 8 February 1859. A Police Station followed in 1862.

The first bridge over the LaTrobe River was constructed in 1862. Following disastrous floods in 1934 and 1935, two raised concrete bridges, joined by a central causeway, were constructed over the flood plain in 1937-38. This structure was duplicated as part of the subsequent upgrade of the Princes Highway. The first school was opened in 1863 and became a Common School in 1865 (later State School Number 770). During the school centenary year, Dr H.C Disher, of 'Strathfieldsaye', who was born at Rosedale and attended the school from 1901 - 1904, established an annual secondary scholarship for a deserving boy and girl. The school was moved to a new location on the western side of the town 1989. St Mark's Anglican Church was built in 1866, followed by St Andrew's Presbyterian Church in 1869. St Rose of Lima Catholic Church was constructed in 1875. In 1866, a site was selected for a Mechanic's Institute. The building was opened in 1875.