Darraweit Guim

Darraweit Guim is a rural village at the junction of Deep and Boyds Creeks, 7 km west of Wallan and 45 km north of Melbourne. It is situated in open, undulating country which is south of the dividing range. The entrance to the village is by a steep drop to the Deep Creek gorge.

The area was surveyed in 1851 and named after an Aboriginal expression thought to mean a meeting of two streams, that is, the two creeks. However, Darraweit Guim was also the name of a pastoral station taken up by William Murray in 1843, and the first part of the name was understood to be an Aboriginal word for Mount Macedon.

In 1866 a Wesleyan school was opened, town lots were sold and a bridge was built across Deep Creek near the Olive Bridge Hotel which predated the bridge. Known as McCabes Bridge, it was named after the hotel’s proprietor. It was deemed unsafe in 2010. The present bluestone school was built in 1870, and Presbyterian and Catholic churches were opened in 1871 and 1875. The land was suitable for crops (potatoes), dairying and grazing. A creamery was opened in 1890. In 1903 Darraweit Guim received a brief description in the Australian handbook:

A memorial hall was built in 1920, and the Wesleyan church was closed in 1930. Darraweit Guim has experienced floods (1906, 1934) and fires (1904, 1969). The 1969 fire was particularly severe, destroying several buildings, including the Presbyterian church, which had to be restored in time for its 1971 centenary. The general store, dating from 1866 or earlier, also escaped the fire. Its location was beside the ford where the old coach road crossed.

Darraweit Guim census populations have been:

Recent residential development on the upper part of the Deep Creek gorge has added to the population and the school enrolment in 2014 was 23.