Tarpeena means Redgum Trees, from the Aboriginal words Tart Pena, and the original part of the town was established in the mid 1860s. In the early years the township played an important role in that it was a change station for the coaches and mail. It is now mainly a timber milling town with one of the largest softwood milling operations in Australia based there. Radiata pines surround the township and other land is used for dairy cattle, beef cattle and sheep.