Somers, Victoria

Somers is a small town approximately 72 km south-east of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, in the south-eastern corner of the Mornington Peninsula on Western Port. Its local government area is the Shire of Mornington Peninsula.HistoryOriginally known as Balnarring East, the town was renamed for a popular former Governor of Victoria who set up the local Lord Somers Camp. The subdivision of Somers began in 1925, whilst the Boulevard Cafe & Post Office commenced business in 1927, the address then still being Balnarring East. After much correspondence with the Education Dept. the Palm Beach School No. 4458 opened 1929. The renaming of the town occurred in 1930. Despite a few very small land subdivisions for housing, Somers has not seen any major development since the 1920s and has retained much of its remnant bush land on the foreshore. Initially as the land had been used for grazing, the estates were bare until local residents led by local store-keeper Ron Stone planted many trees throughout the area.