Clearly, the descendents of the early settlers that flocked to the fertile farming area soon after agreed.

Many of the families who live in the region, about 50km north-west of Ballarat, are sixth generation farmers, including Tony Briody.

“It’s good ground, good grazing country and it varies a bit, as you get over towards Waubra you get that good volcanic soil,” he said.

After settlement, Lexton grew from a small farming community to a bustling Cobb and Co transport interchange hub as the halfway point between Ballarat and St Arnaud.

Lexton also had the dubious honour of boasting the Colony of Port Phillip’s first toll gate.

The town’s park, Toll Bar Park, now serves as a monument, as well as offering information on the Major Mitchell trail.

As the 20th century progressed, so did Lexton as a thriving farming community and while Australia rode the sheep’s back to prosperity with the wool boom of the 1950s, so did Lexton, Mr Briody said.   

“Back in the 50s wool was fantastic and that set a lot of people up around here,”he said.

“After that it started to come off and we had to diversify into other areas but people are pretty tough and hard and they adapt.

“People hit hard times recently with the drought and that sort of thing but we still survived.”

Mr Briody described the Lexton of his childhood as a “go ahead little place”.

“There were a lot of soldier settlement blocks in the area and people closely settled and there was always people working on farms but it has changed a lot,”he said.

“Especially in the last 20 or 30 years it’s gone back into larger holdings and it’s not like it used to be and the population dropped off.”

However, he said the recent demand for lifestyle properties had seen a slight invigoration of the district.

“I have noticed recently there’s a lot of people coming from Melbourne to little places like this,” he said.

“It’s a great place to live and great place to bring up children. You’ve got that country atmosphere and it’s pretty friendly.

“You can’t beat the country for friendliness. If someone gets into a bit of strife there’s always someone around to help them.”

The basics

Municipality: Pyrenees Shire

Population: 149

First settled: 1845

Main industries: Lamb, wool and grain farming

Claim to fame: Collingwood football player Darren Jolly hails from a farm near Lexton, where his family still live.

Five fast facts

1. The first European man to discover the Lexton area was the explorer Major Thomas Mitchell, who passed through in 1836. He described it as a “valley of the finest description”.

2. Lexton became an early inland centre for settlement and government administration because it is located at the crossroads of Major Mitchell’s track from Portland Bay to Sydney and the squatters route between Geelong or Port Phillip and the Wimmera.

3. It was originally named Burnbank and the Burnbank Creek runs through the town. It was renamed Lexton in 1854.

4. From 1869, Lexton was a bustling Cobb and Co transport hub. It was the halfway point on the busy Ballarat to St Arnaud line.

5. Lexton has the dubious honour of being home to the colony’s first toll gate. The town’s park, Toll Gate Park, serves as a reminder.

Five things to do

1. Golf, anyone? Lexton has a nine hole golf course on the Talbot Road.

2. Have a picnic or barbecue at Toll Bar Park and learn all about Major Mitchell’s exploration of the area.

3. Watch some grassroots sport. The Lexton Tigers have football and netball teams in the Maryborough Castlemaine District Football League.

4. Have a Sunday roast or $15 pot and parma on Thursday night at the Pyrenees Family Hotel.

5. Fish for blackfish in the Burnbank Creek, which runs through the centre of town.