Nerrena

Nerrena is a rural locality in south Gippsland, 6 km south-east of Leongatha. It is also the name of the survey parish that runs southwards to Tarwin and Meeniyan. According to Bunce's Language of the Aborigines of the Colony of Victoria (1859), Nerrena is an Aboriginal word meaning name.

Nerrena was one of the last areas in the district south and east of Leongatha to be settled. Farms were taken up in the 1890s and a school was started in the village hall in 1900. A proper school building was constructed in 1912 and a replacement hall was opened in 1934.

Farming was troubled by rabbits and noxious weeds, but from the 1950s onwards both were reduced. Pastures were also improved. There was a bluestone quarry operated by James T. Knox who also built an elaborate dairy farm complex. The buildings are the district’s notable architectural monument, standing at 530 Nerrena Road.

Electricity was connected in 1964.

Nerrena has a hall and a CFA station. Its census populations have been: