The town is in the Shire of Northern Grampians and Shire of Pyrenees local government areas, 227 kilometres (141 mi) north west of the state capital, Melbourne and 37 kilometres (23 mi) north east of the regional centre of Stawell.

The discovery of gold at Mount Alexander in 1851 saw the inns become a popular stopping point for miners on their way to the diggings.

[4] For forty years it carried passengers, cargo, livestock and timber to the connecting stations to its south.

In 1954 the line was closed and the station and service facilities quickly fell into ruin;[5] little remains today to the casual observer.

In aerial photographs parch marks are clearly visible across the nearby countryside and indicate the original route of the line.