Cowwarr is a town in Victoria, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, located 27 kilometres north-east of Traralgon

Traralgon, Victoria

Traralgon is a regional city located in the Latrobe Valley in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. Traralgon is a city within the City of Latrobe....

, 174 kilometres east of Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

, in the Shire of Wellington. At the 2006 census

Census in Australia

The Australian census is administered once every five years by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The most recent census was conducted on 9 August 2011; the next will be conducted in 2016. Prior to the introduction of regular censuses in 1961, they had also been run in 1901, 1911, 1921, 1933,...

, Cowwarr and the surrounding area had a population of 563.

Established in the 1860s, the town serviced the area around Walhalla

Walhalla, Victoria

Walhalla is a small town in Victoria, Australia, founded as a gold-mining community in early 1863 and at its peak home to around 2,500 residents. Today, the town has a population of fewer than 20 permanent residents, though it has a large proportion of houses owned as holiday properties. It...

 during the Victorian Gold Rush

Victorian gold rush

The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. In 10 years the Australian population nearly tripled.- Overview :During this era Victoria dominated the world's gold output...

. The Post Office opened on 1 February 1869 as Upper Heyfield and was renamed Cowwarr in 1870.
Historic buildings remain in the town today. A butter

Butter

Butter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermented cream or milk. It is generally used as a spread and a condiment, as well as in cooking applications, such as baking, sauce making, and pan frying...

 factory built around the close of the nineteenth century has been converted into a gallery for contemporary art

Contemporary art

Contemporary art can be defined variously as art produced at this present point in time or art produced since World War II. The definition of the word contemporary would support the first view, but museums of contemporary art commonly define their collections as consisting of art produced...

. The town is supported by district farming, including dairy farming, irrigated from the Rainbow Creek

Independent State of Rainbow Creek

The Independent State of Rainbow Creek was an Australian secessionist micronation active during the 1970s and 80s.It was founded as a result of a longrunning compensation dispute between a group of Victorian farmers in the town of Cowwarr, and an agency of the Victorian state government, the State...

, which runs past Cowwarr, and the Thomson River

Thomson River

Thomson River may refer to:*Thomson River , western Queensland, Australia*Thomson River , Victoria, Australia...

.

The town has an Australian Rules football team competing in the North Gippsland Football League

North Gippsland Football League

The North Gippsland Football League is an Australian rules football league in the Central Gippsland area of Victoria, Australia, formed in 1955 through the merger of the Cowwarr Football League and the Sale District Football League....

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