Bullarook

Bullarook is a rural locality 90 km north-west of Melbourne, 5 km north of the Western Freeway and midway between Ballan and Ballarat. The name possibly derives from Bailaroc, the name of an Aboriginal leader.

A school was opened in 1859, and a Wesleyan church also served as school premises during the 1870s. Bullarook is at the southern limit of the Bullarook Forest which extended to an area between Daylesford and Creswick. Much timber was taken from the forest for building and mining purposes, leaving good agricultural land in the foothills. Bullarook had both mining and agriculture in the 1860s.

Whilst having a farming population of over 200 between 1910 and 1950, Bullarook has never been more than a hamlet with a post office, school and a church. The school closed in 1990.

Bullarook’s census populations have been: