Tarcutta is a quaint Village half way between Sydney and Melbourne on the Hume Highway, and has long been popular in the transport history as a stopping and changeover point for drivers.

This began in 1837 when Thomas Mate settled here. His primitive homestead was half-way on the track between Sydney and Melbourne, so he added an inn and store for travellers.

The local park houses the National Truck Drivers' Memorial to the truck drivers drivers who have died on the infamous local stretch of the Hume Highway, as well as around the country. The country singer, Slim Dusty, endorsed the memorial with a plaque.

The local café, which has sustained generations of truckies, has also been the source of inspiration for some of Australia's recent modern poets, Les Murray and Bruce Dawe. Murray wrote "The Burning Truck" while visiting the café in 1961 and Dawe immortalised the eatery in a couple of lines in his poem "Under Way".

There had been extensive political arguing since 1999 between Federal and State Governments over funding and where to site a proposed Tarcutta truck changeover facility. It was finally decided to place it off the main street and the project which was completed early 2007 was jointly funded at a cost of $6.5m.

Hidden in the surrounding hills is a vast amount of pioneer history, from the former Tarcutta Railway Station to several lone graves that have stories to tell. Whilst the Village of Tarcutta is to be bypassed in several years, the local community continue to work hard to ensure that their town remains the stopover on those long journeys between Sydney and Melbourne.

Aboriginal Meaning:
Tarcutta- meal made from
grass seeds
Population:
2006 Census: 440

Time to Melbourne:
4½ Hours

Time to Sydney:
4½ Hours