The traditional custodians of the land surrounding Yarram are the
Brataualung people of the
Kurnai People, an
Australian Aboriginal group, who resisted the invasion of their lands, and sustained heavy casualties as a result. Due to its proximity to
Port Albert, one of Victoria’s first trade ports, the town grew quickly after settlement. This was as a result of its location in one of Australia’s primary dairy-making regions alongside the presence of the timber industry. In 1841 the site, originally a low-lying swamp, was chosen by a Scottish clan leader, Aeneas Ronaldson MacDonnell, who, with his fellow Scots, attempted to set up a feudal-style court. However, the experiment folded and he subsequently moved to
New Zealand. The
post office opened on 1 February 1861 as Yarram Yarram and was renamed Yarram in about 1925. The
railway arrived in 1921; the line between Welshpool and
Leongatha was closed in October 1987. The Yarram Magistrates' Court closed on 1 January 1990. Mr and Mrs A.J Thompson, publicans and property developers local to Yarram, built the Regent Theatre and its two shops. The project was the last 'picture palace' of its time to be built in Gippsland and cost a total of 20,000 pounds. Today, this amount would be approximately $36,444 Australian dollars. Notable people from Yarram include 19th century opera singer
Ada Crossely, who was born in
Tarraville and received piano lessons with Mrs Hastings of the nearby
Port Albert at the age of seven, and
Kara Healey, who was the first female park ranger in Victoria and an outstanding naturalist. She discovered two types of fungi (
Poria Healeyi and
Lambertella Healeyi), both of which were named after her. == Today ==