in 1838 the new south wales government surveyed the town site which they called "violet creek" — the first inland surveyed town in victoria. the following year land was put up for sale. squatters took up land at honeysuckle run soon after. the town remained empty in spite of the sale of town blocks until 1846 when the royal mail hotel was opened and then a village began to grow. by the 1860s the town had expanded to include three hotels, a bakery and a school. buildings went from bark huts to timber construction. its principal thoroughfares then were hyacinth, tulip, cowslip, and rose streets. the town was an important coach stop on the melbourne to sydney road, as it was at the conjunction of the sydney road, the overland telegraph and the tracks to bendigo and the north-eastern gold fields. in 1873 the railway arrived and the village moved closer to the line. in 1895 the shire of violet town was gazetted. in 1994 it was amalgamated with adjoining shires to become part of the shire of strathbogie.