Avenel was surveyed in 1850, taking its name from the local squatting run. It became a small service town for gold rush travelers on the Sydney-Melbourne road. Coaches such as Cobb and Co stopped here to change their horses. The centre of the town shifted around the new railway that opened in 1872, servicing a growing farming community. Hotels, banks, churches, shops, halls and even a racecourse were built in the ‘new town’. The town was bypassed in the 1980’s by the Hume freeway. We’re proud of our history that includes surviving gold rush era buildings, generations of memories of our locals and even a connection with the outlaw Ned Kelly.