Wooragee

Wooragee, a rural village in north-east Victoria, is 8 km north-east of Beechworth in the direction of Wodonga. It is thought that the name was derived from an Aboriginal word describing a peppermint-scented tree.

In 1852, when Wooragee was part of David Reid's pastoral run, gold was discovered there. The find was not as rich as that of a month before at Beechworth, and mining co-existed with wood cutting and agriculture. A mining census in 1861 recorded 219 persons at Wooragee.

A school was opened in 1862, the first of four hotels was opened in 1865, and Methodist and Anglican denominations were the strongest church groups. A small Anglican church was built (date unrecorded). Wooragee was the best recognised place name north of Beechworth, and the Wooragee Road District (1862) existed for three years until incorporated in the Beechworth Shire.

In 1891 a railway line was extended from Beechworth to Yackandandah, via Wooragee. Mainly used for freight (timber and agricultural produce) the line closed in 1954. The last of the hotels closed in 1914. In 1961 Wooragee gained a public hall by the relocation of a building from a large tannery at Beechworth that had been closed. Wooragee was described in the 1903 Australian handbook:

Wooragee's local school had 13 pupils in 2014. The town has a school, tennis courts, Centenary Hall, and CFA sheds and the main street is lined with pinoaks.

The Wooragee Community Plan was drafted in 2011 and included the acquisition of land next to the Centenary Hall for community use.

Its census populations have been: