A regional centre for a district that produces wool, wheat and other grains, lucerne, fat cattle and sheep. It falls midway between Melbourne and Sydney on the Hume Highway, and makes for the perfect stopover on the drive between the two cities.
Where is it?: 315km North-East of Melbourne and 499km south-west of Sydney between Tarcutta and Albury on the Hume Highway.
What does a town on a busy highway, and named after a submarine captain, do to get travellers to stop and take advantage of its facilities? It buys a retired submarine, or in this town's case, the skin of the Oberon class submarine, HMAS Otway, when it was decommisioned by the Royal Australian Navy in 1995. The town rebuilt the sub, put in on display, and in so doing, put itself back on the map. It became famous not only for its submarine - but also for having the only set of traffic lights between Sydney and Melbourne, which is a pedestrian crossing.
Holbrook today is now a regular stopping place for drivers travelling on the Hume Highway, even though the highway now bypasses the town. Holbrook still has plenty of visitors.
Origin of name: The town was originally called Ten Mile Creek. A German immigrant, John Christopher Pabst, became the publican of the Woolpack Hotel in 1840 and the area became known as "the Germans". By 1858 the name had evolved in to the official name of Germanton, though the postal area retained the name Ten Mile Creek.
In 1876 the name Germanton was gazetted and the old name Ten Mile Creek consigned to history. During World War I, the town name was deemed unpatriotic and renamed in honour of Lieut. Norman Douglas Holbrook, a decorated World war I submarine captain and winner of the Victoria Cross. Lt. Holbrook commanded the submarine HMS B11.
Brief history: The area was originally inhabited by the Wiradjuri people. Explorers Hamilton Hume and William Hilton Hovell were the first known Europeans in the area. They travelled through in 1824 while looking for new grazing country in the south regions of the colony of New South Wales. The first buildings were erected in 1836.
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