The establishment of the Sailors Grave Brewery[2] has also brought significant tourism to the area with its multiple festivals throughout the year.

The Cameron family settled on the rich alluvial river flats in 1876, followed by many other selectors, many of them Scottish migrants.

Allan Burn opened the Post Office on 1 December 1880 named Neumerella (sic) and was renamed Orbost in 1883.

By the late 1890s produce was regularly being exported to Melbourne via coastal trading vessels sailing up the Snowy River to Orbost.

The Gippsland railway line and surrounding townships have embarked on a campaign to "Save the Snowy River Rail Bridge.

This resulted in the creation or extension of National Parks in the area, and a steady decline in forestry and sawmilling jobs.

The general rural decline of the area and its economy saw the railway close in the mid-1980s and the population drop from around 4,000 to around 2000 by the start of the 21st century.

[citation needed] Independent candidate from the Orbost district, Craig Ingram, was elected in 1999, and re-elected in 2002, to the Victorian Legislative Assembly.

[8] The town was connected to Melbourne when the Gippsland railway line opened to Orbost station in 1916 principally carrying timber and farming produce.