Discover Bruthen Heritage

Discover Bruthen’s rich heritage tapestry, from GunaiKurnai culture, to a productive farming industry, a stopover for gold diggings and becoming a railway town.

The area is GunaiKurnai Country, with a long Indigenous history prior to formal settlement in the late 1890s. Bruthen was an important destination on the trade route, located close to the Tambo River. The fertile Tambo River flats ensured a productive agricultural industry. Hop and maize were important crops in the 1880s and you can see remnants at the Mossiface Hop Kilns and a number of surrounding maize cribs as the East Gippsland Rail Trail passes through Mossiface.

The main street is laced with lovely heritage buildings, their verandahs stretching over the footpaths.

The town was a stop on the Bairnsdale to Orbost railway line which opened in 1916, and has now become the popular East Gippsland Rail Trail.

Outside the Bruthen Information & Arts Centre at the east end of Bruthen town centre, you can look inside the relocated Police Lockup & Fettlers Hut.