The area was originally known as Cochrane’s, after John and James Cochrane, who took up a pastoral run in 1853. When gold was discovered in 1855-56, the area was known as “Cochrane’s Diggings”. In the midst of the Victorian gold rush, gold was discovered in Bealiba in 1856 and for 18 months the town grew to a population of 18,000. The surveyor who laid out the township in 1862 adopted the name of the pastoral run, ‘Bealaba’, later referred to as Bealiba. It is believed the name derived from Aboriginal words meaning red gum creek. After the rush subsided, the area was pioneered by farmers.