Koyuga

Koyuga is a rural village and district on the railway line between Echuca and Kyabram in northern Victoria. It is 15 km south-east of Echuca. The name is thought to be derived from an Aboriginal word meaning clearing of bushes or scrub.

The area was opened up for farm selections in the 1870s and schools were opened at Koyuga (1876) and Koyuga East (1881). By the early 1880s many selectors had left their properties because of adverse conditions, and the Koyuga school was closed in 1884. The opening of a railway line through Koyuga in 1887 came too late to make much difference.

In 1911 the Tongala Estate was opened up for closer settlement, with irrigation water from the Waranga-Goulburn system. (Tongala township is 7 km south-east of Koyuga.) The coming of irrigation made selectors' holdings viable, and new schools were opened at Koyuga and Koyuga South in 1913. By the 1920s Koyuga had two stores, two churches, a hall and a cheese factory. Dairying and grazing became the main farm occupations.

In 1946 Tongala established a consolidated school, resulting in the closure of both Koyuga schools by 1950. The hall and a recreation reserve are now the main features of the village.

Koyuga's census populations have been:

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