Watchem

Watchem is a rural village on the Sunraysia Highway and the railway line to Mildura, north-west Victoria. It is 30 km north-west of Donald and 20 km south of Birchip.

The name is thought to be derived from an Aboriginal word meaning a place where the hop bush (Dodonaea) grows. (Compare Watchupga – a word describing the hop bush.)

The first farm selections in the Watchem area occurred in 1873 and a town survey was made in 1875. At that time, however, the railway had not reached Donald, and it was in 1893 that the line was extended beyond Donald to Watchem and Birchip. A Catholic school was opened in 1893 and a government school in 1895. The Victorian municipal directory for 1893 also recorded a hotel, store and church at Watchem, which was described as a rising township.