Indigo Shire

Indigo is a shire in north-eastern Victoria formed on 18 November 1994, by the union of Rutherglen shire and most of Beechworth, Chiltern and Yackandandah shires. Its administrative centre is at Beechworth.

The name comes from Indigo Creek, which flows north-westerly from the Yackandandah area to the Murray River. Its upstream area is in a valley with forest on either side. The name of the creek came from the pea-like flowers found on a shrub which resembled the Indigo plant.

Indigo Creek was the site of early gold prospecting in the Chiltern area, and the Indigo village and road district (1871-74) were formed west of the creek. On the creek itself there were formed Middle Indigo, 4 km south of Barnawartha, and Indigo Upper, about 15 km further south.

Indigo shire contains numerous tourism attractions, including the north-east wine region, several former gold-mining towns and towns which have retained good stocks of historic buildings.

Indigo shire's census populations have been: