The town is located in the Shire of Moorabool, 108 kilometres (67 mi) west of the state capital, Melbourne and approximately 13 kilometres (8 mi) south-east of Ballarat.

The town was originally called Buninyong East, but was changed in 1879 to Yendon, believed to be an Indigenous Australian word meaning "waterhole".

The station was originally called Buninyong, but was changed to Yendon in 1876.

[3] A substantial two-storey bluestone station building was opened in 1862.

It was demolished in 1969,[2] and the stone was reused to construct garden retaining walls at the Ballarat Institute of Advanced Education, now Federation University.