Inverleigh
Postcode: 3321
Located 103 km from Melbourne and 28 km west of Geelong, Inverleigh is a tiny township on the Hamilton Highway west of Geelong at the junction of the Leigh and Barwon Rivers.
The town was first settled in 1836 when the Derwent Company moved into the area. It is probable that the town grew up when a blacksmith, William Lawson, established a business near the present site of Inverleigh. His aim was to provide blacksmith services to the people on the local Derwent Company station, which was known as Weatherboard, and to service those horses which were being used by squatters who were making their way towards the western district from Geelong.
Lawson expanded his activities when he opened the Horse Shoe Inn in 1842 and it is around this hotel that the town develops with many historically significant buildings being completed in the 1850s and 1860s.