It is the home of the Gippsland Field Days, and was settled after the construction of the Gippsland Railway in 1877. Warragul has produced outstanding gourment foods for most of its existence. Also noted for its sports heroes: Kathy Watt (cycling gold medal, Barcelona Olympics 1992); current coach of Adelaide Crows Football Team and former Hawthorn premiership player Gary Ayres; Footscray (Western Bulldogs) and Sydney Swans Brownlow Medalist Barry Round; first Brownlow Medalist and Geelong Footballer Edward 'Carjie' Greeves. It is regarded as a dairy farming and niche agriculture centre which lies between the Strzelecki Hills to the south and the Baw-Baw Plateau to the north.
Warragul's Petersville Milk Products Factory in Queen Street, supplied the famous Peters Ice Cream brand's factory in Mulgrave with all the dairy raw material (fresh cream and concentrated skim milk) for 35 years.