Yolla, 16 kilometres south of Somerset, was first known as Camp Creek but changed its name in 1887.

The name Yolla is the Aboriginal word for “mutton bird”. The mutton bird is the most abundant seabird species in Australian waters, and is one of the few Australian native birds of which the chicks are commercially harvested.

The chicks are caught in nets, then the bird is put in boiling water for a few seconds. It is a migratory species that breeds mainly on small islands in Bass Strait and Tasmania

Visitors often describe Yolla as a place where time has simply, and pleasantly, stood still. Yolla is the gateway for the West Coast of Tasmania at the start of the Murchison Highway whose construction took place between 1962 and 1964.

Prior to the construction, most transport from the west coast to the north was done via rail on the Emu Bay Railway or by ship from Strahan/Regatta Point in Macquarie Harbour. It is in the midst of a rural region rich in dairying, vegetable production, beef cattle, cropping, forestry and poppy production.

The early settlers had a great desire to own land in an area where they could acquire additional acreage to pass on to their sons to eventually settle. It seemed as if it met their requirements.
Large trees in a heavy forested area of myrtle, blackwood and man ferns indicated fertile soil. Numerous creeks supplied water for stock, dairying and household purposes.

There were only bush tracks when the first settlers James (J.C.) and Annie Diprose and family arrived in 1888 with their loaded wagons.
Pessimists told J.C. that he would starve within three years. He replied, ‘I’ve not yet,’ and to the contrary, he became a successful farmer. It is said that when J.C. finally settled he had 2 shillings and sixpence (25 cents) in his pocket.

The area that J.C. first settled was 320 acres of virgin myrtle forest but he and his sons were responsible for selecting and improving approximately 1,700 acres in the Yolla/Henrietta districts.

This was no mean feat when the difficult work of clearing in the early days is considered. It was also not unusual for men to work all day with axe and saw and trudge along a bush track to Wynyard for supplies which they carried on their backs.

Following in their footsteps, other families settled such as Beamish, Dicker, Biggins, Tippett, Neal, Walters, Milburn and other Diprose family members. In the 2006 Census, Yolla and surrounding district, was listed as having a population of 196.