Yallock

Yallock is a rural locality north-east of Western Port Bay, about 7 km east of Koo Wee Rup.

It is thought that the name was derived from an Aboriginal word describing water or a watercourse. That would be appropriate as much of the area near the bay is swampy, and the Yallock Creek enters the bay near Koo Wee Rup. The area was not entirely without merit to graziers, as a government surveyor in 1855 described the land as exceedingly wet during winter but with an abundance of grass during summer, interspersed with tea tree scrub. The freshwater Yallock Creek ran for most of the year. The Tobin Yallock pastoral run, taken up in 1839, extended from east of present day Koo Wee Rup to Lang Lang.

Until the draining of the Koo Wee Rup Swamp in the 1890s Yallock was the name generally given to the district. Swamp works – including some near the Yallock Creek – provided impetus for numerous village settlements, and the Yallock village was one of them. Most families were employed in drainage works before farms were allocated. A school was opened in 1902 in a local hall (1899). A Methodist mission station was opened in 1907, but its building was moved to Koo Wee Rup in 1932.

The opening of a railway line in 1890 led to a township forming around the Lang Lang railway station, and Lang Lang is the district's main town.

Yallock is a grazing, dairying and agricultural district. It has retained its public hall but its school was closed in 1985.

Yallock's census populations have been: