Briagolong is a town in the Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n state

States and territories of Australia

The Commonwealth of Australia is a union of six states and various territories. The Australian mainland is made up of five states and three territories, with the sixth state of Tasmania being made up of islands. In addition there are six island territories, known as external territories, and a...

 of Victoria, located 20 kilometres north of Maffra

Maffra, Victoria

Maffra is a town in Victoria, Australia, 220 km east of Melbourne. It is in the Shire of Wellington local government area. It relies mainly on dairy farming and other agriculture, and is the site of one of Murray-Goulburn Cooperative's eight processing plants in Victoria...

 and some 270 kilometres east of Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

, in the Shire of Wellington region of Gippsland

Gippsland

Gippsland is a large rural region in Victoria, Australia. It begins immediately east of the suburbs of Melbourne and stretches to the New South Wales border, lying between the Great Dividing Range to the north and Bass Strait to the south...

. At the 2006 census

Census in Australia

The Australian census is administered once every five years by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The most recent census was conducted on 9 August 2011; the next will be conducted in 2016. Prior to the introduction of regular censuses in 1961, they had also been run in 1901, 1911, 1921, 1933,...

, Briagolong had a population of 937.

History

Briagolong Post Office opened on 1 May 1871.

The town's principal industry has been timber, and it supplied red gum

Red Gum

Red Gum may refer to any of a number of species of Eucalyptus or the closely related Corymbia, including*Corymbia calophylla, Red Gum or Marri, native to Western Australia*Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Red Gum, Murray Red Gum or River Red Gum...

 paving blocks for Melbourne's streets, and stringybark

Stringybark

A stringybark can be any of the many Eucalyptus species which have thick, fibrous bark. Like all eucalypts, stringybarks belong to the Myrtaceae family. In exceptionally fertile locations some stringybark species A stringybark can be any of the many Eucalyptus species which have thick, fibrous...

 for the flooring at Australia House

Australia House

The High Commission of Australia in London is housed in Australia House, a building that also accommodates other Australian federal and state government agencies, including the Menzies Centre for Australian Studies, part of King's College London....

 in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

.

The railway line from Maffra opened in 1889 and was closed in 1952.

Today

Briagolong was the home town of Private Jake Kovco

Jacob Kovco

Jacob Bruce Kovco was a Private in the Australian Army who died while deployed in Iraq, fatally wounded by a single shot to the head from his own Browning 9mm sidearm. PTE Kovco was the first Australian soldier to die while deployed to the Middle Eastern Area of Operations...

, Australia's first military casualty in the Iraq War. The funeral for Private Kovco was held in the town on 2 May 2006, and was attended by Prime Minister John Howard

John Howard

John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....

, Defence Minister Brendan Nelson

Brendan Nelson

Dr Brendan John Nelson is a former Australian politician and former federal Opposition leader. He served as a member of the Australian House of Representatives from the 1996 federal election until 19 October 2009 as the Liberal member for Bradfield, a northern Sydney seat...

, Defence Force Chief Angus Houston

Angus Houston

Air Chief Marshal Allan Grant "Angus" Houston AC, AFC is a retired senior commander of the Royal Australian Air Force and was the Chief of the Defence Force from 4 July 2005 until his retirement on 3 July 2011...

 and Army Chief Peter Leahy

Peter Leahy

Lieutenant General Peter Francis Leahy AC is a retired senior officer of the Australian Army, whose military career culminated with his appointment as Chief of the Army from 2002 until 2008.-Military career:...

.

The town in conjunction with neighbouring township Boisdale

Boisdale, Victoria

Boisdale is a town in Victoria, Australia, located on Briagolong Road, north of Maffra, in the Shire of Wellington. At the 2006 census, Boisdale and the surrounding area had a population of 603.It is a small town in the heart of Gippsland's dairying distinct...

 has an Australian Rules football team Boisdale-Briagolong competing in the North Gippsland Football League

North Gippsland Football League

The North Gippsland Football League is an Australian rules football league in the Central Gippsland area of Victoria, Australia, formed in 1955 through the merger of the Cowwarr Football League and the Sale District Football League....

.