St JAMES
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St James is located about 25km south-west of Yarrawonga, 30km north of Benalla.
The township was created to service the needs of early selectors in the district. The first european settlers arrived in about 1870, and the Post Office opened in 1899. It is thought that the name of the new township originated from St James Day (May 1st) as this is when it is recorded that the first settlers moved in.
St James was the location of the first business of GJ Coles (1885-1977), founder of the Coles Group, and modern day silo art murals record this event, as does a memorial plaque on a store frontage in St James - Lake Rowan Road.
GJ bought the shop from his father in 1910, and subsequently opened his first GJ Coles store in Collingwood in 1914; see the wikipedia entry under George Coles entrepreneur for more details.
The importance of the new settlement was highlighted by the construction of the Benalla - Yarrawonga - Oaklands Railway in the early 1880s, with intermediate stations being Goorambat, Devenish and St James.
Further information about the establishment of St James can be found in St James 1871 - 1977 published by the Back-to-St James Committee in 1977.
In the modern era the St James Hotel is a popular place for lunch and dinner, and is a great example of the art-deco period (built in 1939).
The silo art shown here was commissioned in 2018, and the artist is Tim Bowtell; the finished project will have four images.
Rural activities of the St James area include sheep, cattle, cereals and canola.
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