Among the earliest settlers was Alexander Fullarton Mollison who, in December 1837, staked out 64,000 acres on the Coliban river near Malmsbury. He continued to look for further land and eventually in 1838 settled on an unoccupied area along the Mollison creek, between two other overlanders, Captain Sylvester Brown’s Darlington Run and William Hamilton’s Glenaroua Station. Alexander Mollison was joined by his brother William, who was put in charge of the Pyalong Run. Pyalong is thought to be a Taungurung word meaning “two small waterholes dug by women.”

By 1847 a shearing shed had been built on the Pyalong Run, east of the Northern Highway and opposite what is now the Mollison Memorial. That year Alexander Mollison wrote to his sister and reported on the shearing,

“I do not bring them to Coliban as formerly but have built a shearing shed at Pyalong. I began rather earlier in the season this year, and the weather being fine, I finished this somewhat heavy task in four weeks. About 500 or 550 sheep were shorn every day, and the wool packed in bales ready for shipment.”

Sadly, the shearing shed was eventually removed around 1889 to allow for the construction of the Heathcote Junction to Bendigo railway line.

The Mollison brothers complained of the difficulty maintaining farm employees and the discovery of gold in 1851 only added to this problem. The construction of a homestead at Pyalong (now called Mollison Park) was delayed until 1859. When Alexander Mollison returned from a visit to London he reported,

“The new house at Pyalong is commodious, comfortable and cheerful and standing on rising ground and dry soil. There are plenty of trees around but not too close to the house. It is nearly a quarter of a mile from the high road.”

The adjoining Glenaroua Station was also established as a sheep run in 1838 by William Hamilton. The Glenaroua Homestead, built of bluestone, was erected in stages between the 1850s and 1860s. Despite changes over the years, particularly internally, the building today retains much of its original appearance.

In the 1860s land selection opened up the area to smaller farmers and small communities began to emerge at High Camp Plain (later shortened to High Camp), Glenaroua and Pyalong. The late Walter Crawford in his journal reports that his father donated one acre of land near his home for the High Camp School No 2276 which opened in 1880 – this school later moved to the station precinct. 

According to Crawford, a Mr Edmond O’Hern selected the last available land at High Camp but part of this was repossessed by the Government for the railway site.

At this time, the new sett life was challenging. Labour shortages were common and the isolation of the district made transport difficult. These conditions would eventually drive the demand for improved connections – most notably a railway.