The Sisters

The Sisters is a rural locality in western Victoria, 14 km south of Mortlake and 32 km north-east of Warrnambool.

The Sisters was a pastoral property acquired by Niel Black in 1844. Its central feature is two volcanic cones (180 m) from which it is thought the name was derived. There are stony rises around the volcanic cones and lower-lying marshlands which have been useful for summer grazing and, later, for dairying.

In the early 1900s The Sisters property was subdivided for small farms, leading to the opening of a butter factory. There were also a Presbyterian church (1898) and a school (1896).

There was a steady increase of population from 1920 to the mid-1950s, as dairying was the main farm activity. A soldiers’ memorial hall was opened in 1926.

The Sisters school was closed in 1975, and the church was described in the mid-1980s as being rarely used. The public hall is the chief remaining building.

The census populations of The Sisters have been: