Located on a low hill some 44 metres above sea-level, a township was established in its final location alongside the Bairnsdale railway line when it arrived in October 1877. By March of the following year the section of the line to Moe was completed. Surrounded partly by swamp as it was, the foundation of the town, and railway line, can be attributed to its relatively elevated position, its prior use as a coach stop and the increasing need to provide transport for farm produce and timber.