Melbourne Australia

ABERFELDIE
Aberfeldie is a suburb 9km north-west of Melbourne,. Its Local Government Area is the City of Moonee Valley. At the 2006 Census, Aberfeldie had a population of 3455. Scotsman James Robertson named his property Aberfeldie, located on the corner of Aberfeldie St and Park Crs, after a place in Scotland. When the property was sold in 1888 it became the name of the suburb. The area has tended to attract families, with its abundance of parks, sporting facilities and the Maribyrnong River. There is a range of detached housing from inter war Californian Bungalows to post war dwellings.

ABBOTSFORD
Abbotsford, a residential and industrial suburb, is in the eat of Collingwood, between Hoddle Street and the Yarra River. It was named after a property owned by John Orr in Kew, the bordering suburb over the Yarra River. In the 1850s a land auction for the "Abbotsford township" was promoted, the site being between the Convent of the Good Shepherd and Johnston Street. It was the most attractive part, on the river bank, as west of it was the low-lying Collingwood flat. The western side of Abbotsford has the railway line from Collingwood to Heidelberg (1888) and Princes Bridge to Collingwood (1901). The town hall and other civic buildings (1880s) are next to the railway station.
Like many of Melbourne's inner suburbs, there are few detached houses in Abbotsford. Residential streets are often narrow, and some streets are leafy. A large proportion of houses in Abbotsford are subject to Heritage overlay provisions, which protect their heritage value. The older residential sections consist mostly of working class single-storey Victorian terrace houses.
Abbotsford is a prominent early industrial area and as a result, there are several outstanding examples of industrial buildings. The most prominent is Denton Hat Mills, a large turn of the century industrial complex designed by architect William Pitt in polychrome brick in 1888. It was the home to Brush Fabrics until 2004, when plans for conversion to apartments were implemented. Work on the conversion began in mid-2007 and was completed in December 2009. Prominent hotels include the Carringbush Hotel. It was built in 1889 and was originally named the Friendly Societies Hotel.

AIRPORT WEST
Airport West is a suburb 14km north-west of Melbourne. At the 2006 Census, Airport West had a population of 6660. Bounded by the Calder Freeway to the south, the Tullamarine Freeway to the east, and the Western Ring Road to the north west, Airport West is so named for its position to the west of Essendon Airport, Melbourne's first general airport now used for light planes, charter and freight since the opening in 1970 of Melbourne Airport located to the north of the suburb. It has the distinction of being the only locality in Australia which does not itself contain an airport to contain the word "Airport."
Notable residents:
James Birrell, architect
Hayden Kennedy, AFL umpire
Simon Madden, VFL player
Justin Madden, Victorian State Minister and VFL/AFL player
Ashley Naylor, musician
Mark 'Bomber' Thompson, VFL/AFL player and coach

ALAMEIN
Alamein is the name of a railway station on the Alamein line. Alamein was the last station to be built on what is now the line of the same name. It was built in 1948 on the reservation of the ill-fated Outer Circle line, the section on which Alamein is now located being closed to all traffic in 1895. The station serviced a new Housing Commission estate that had been opened up to house people that had displaced after the Second World War. The station still bears the name of the estate, which in turn had been named after the battlefield in North Africa.
The Alamein railway line serves part of the City of Boroondara, to the east of the Melbourne central business district. It has six stations and branches from the Belgrave and Lilydale lines at Camberwell station. The line is operated as a shuttle service between Camberwell and Alamein stations during off-peak periods, while trains run the whole distance to Flinders Street Station during peak hours. What is now known as the Alamein line was opened as the Outer Circle Railway between 1890 and 1891. The segment still in use today was opened on 24 March 1890.


Albert Park

ALBERT PARK
Albert Park, a residential area with a large regional park and lake, is 3 km. south of Melbourne. It was named after Prince Albert, the Consort of Queen Victoria. There are two Albert Parks, one the large recreational parkland and the other the adjoining residential area which spread southwards from South Melbourne's Emerald Hill in the 1870s and 1880s. The parkland was like much of the land in the Yarra delta, swampy, grassed with sparse tree cover, and with occasional lagoons, some quite large. The lagoon in Albert Park was one of those. The land was used for seasonal grazing, recreational hunting, rifle practice at the Butts (the original name of the Albert Park railway station) and for military training manoeuvres between the Victoria Barracks, St. Kilda Road, and the battery on Port Phillip Bay at the end of Kerford Road. In 1857 a railway line was opened through Albert Park from Melbourne to St. Kilda. A short-lived rail loop from Windsor to St. Kilda (1859-62) passed through the south of the parkland. On 22 July, 1862, the parkland was temporarily reserved from sale, and permanently reserved two years later.
The suburb of Albert Park extends from the St Vincent Gardens to Beaconsfield Parade and Mills Street. It was settled residentially as an extension of Emerald Hill (South Melbourne). It is characterised by wide streets, heritage buildings, terraced houses, open air cafes, parks and significant stands of mature exotic trees, including Canary Island Date Palm and London Planes. Since 1996 Albert Park has been home to the Australian Grand Prix.
Notable residents:
Roy Cazaly (13 January 1893-10 October 1963), Australian rules football legend (birthplace).
Ernest McIntyre (19 April 1921-10 April 2003), Australian rules footballer (birthplace).
Hilda and Laurel Armstrong.  'The Vegemite Girls', sisters who coined the name of the iconic Australian food spread in 1923
Noel Jack (1913- 1986).  Artist and revolutionary(Counihan).
William Scott (1920-1975)  tenor (Herbert).
Patricia Irene (1911-1990).  journalist (Jarrett).

ALBION
Albion is 13 km west from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Brimbank. At the 2006 Census, Albion had a population of 3763. A subdivision of Sunshine, it is bordered on the north by the Western Highway, the south by Forrest St, the west by Kororoit Creek and the east by Anderson Rd. The name 'Albion' derives from the Albion Quarrying Company which operated in the area. The disused Albion quarry, accessed from Hulett St, was the location for AC/DC's Jailbreak music video.
The area was originally called Darlington, from at least 1860 to about 1890. The area originally known as Albion was directly west of Duke Street, as can be noted by the many streets there named after English counties and placenames - Albion being an ancient name for the island of Great Britain. Albion station opened on 5 January 1860 as Albion and Darlington but closed a year later. It was not until 1919 that a new station was opened on the same site with the name Albion station.
Albion has many period homes such as California bungalows and 1940s weatherboard houses many of which were built by H. V. McKay as part of his Sunshine Estate Garden city community. Kororoit Creek provides the western border for Albion. Along it runs the Kororoit Creek Trail which runs all the way southwards to meet the Federation Trail in Brooklyn. Stony Creek lies on the eastern edge of Albion, close to Anderson Road. As of 2013, the creek's environmental state west of Anderson Rd is very poor as it has long been converted to nothing more than a concrete stormwater drain for this particular section of its course.

ALPHINGTON
Alphington is immediately north of the Yarra River, some 7 km. north-east of Melbourne. On its west is Fairfield and on its east is Ivanhoe. Farm-size land sales in Alphington coincided with those in the Northcote and Fairfield district in 1840. Most of Alphington was bought by three persons. Most easterly, Thomas Wills bought 71 ha. running down to the river where the Latrobe golf club is now situated. He built the "Lucerne" homestead (1840-1960), but soon disposed of it and built the grander "Willsmere" on the other side of the river in Kew. The westerly purchaser was the Howitt brothers, important Port Phillip and post gold-rush personalities. Howitt thought the "situation delicious and the slopes most graceful." The purchaser of the middle portion was Charles Roemer, who soon on-sold, but his name is commemorated in Roemer Crescent, off Lucerne Crescent.
The purchaser of Roemer's land was Sir William Manning who, recognising the place's potential for a resting place between Melbourne and Heidelberg, laid out a village and named it Alphington after his birthplace in Devonshire, England. By 1865 Alphington was mainly occupied by market gardens, and vineyards, with a post office, butcher, baker, general store and two hotels, one being the Darebin Bridge. The Heidelberg Road was a route to gold diggings at St. Andrews and in upper Gippsland. The Wesleyan Chapel was built in 1859 and survives as part of the Uniting Church's group of buildings.
Alphington is a primarily residential suburb consisting of mixture of 1970s brick veneer, recently built townhouses as well as period weatherboards. There is also a major paper production plant in the suburb. Present day Alphington has a young demographic, with more than 58% of the suburb being under the age of 40.
Notable residents:
Richard Minifie - First World War Fighter Ace
Paul Licuria - AFL player (Collingwood)
Anthony Rocca - AFL Player (Collingwood).
Lindsay Tanner - former federal MP for the Division of Melbourne
Rick Amor - artist


Altona Beach

ALTONA
Altona is a residential and industrial suburb 13 km. west-south-west of Melbourne. The township is on an indented bay (Altona Bay) on Port Phillip Bay, and the industrial sector extends several kilometres inland. Altona's southern boundary is Skeleton Creek (separating it from Werribee), and its opposite boundary is Kororoit Creek (separating it from Williamstown). The coastal part of Altona is alluvial flats and recent estuarine deposits, with alluvial valleys extending inland along the Kororoit, Cherry and Laverton Creeks. The last two drained into swamps. Inland are newer basalt plains.
In 1842 (or probably before then), Alfred Langhorne leased pastoral land on Altona Bay, and shortly afterwards began building a homestead. The area was then known as Laverton. The homestead became known as "Altona" by the 1860s. The reason for the name is not clear, but in 1843 a neighbour of Langhorne's, R. Wrede, gave his residential address as Altona, Port Phillip Bay. In any event Langhorne's homestead acquired the name "Altona," and it is in Queen Street, Altona, having served as a Council office and a community centre. "Altona" derives from a German village on the River Elbe, later a suburb of the Hamburg seaport.
A key feature is Altona Beach on Port Phillip, which is one of only two swimming beaches in the western suburbs (the other being Williamstown Beach). Altona has many significant parks and gardens, including some important environmental conservation areas and wetlands along the shores of Port Phillip, which are also used by visitors and residents recreationally including a long promenade along the bay. The Hobsons Bay Coastal Trail is a shared path for cyclists and pedestrians, which follows the coast through Altona. This is linked to a path which loops around Cherry Lake. Most major roads have on-road cycleways.

ANSTEY
Anstey is a railway station on the Upfield line in the suburb of Brunswick. Anstey Station was originally opened as North Brunswick station on the December 15, 1926, however the Victorian Government renamed in honour of Victorian and Commonwealth Parliamentarian, Frank Anstey on the December 1, 1942.

ARDEER
Ardeer is 16 km west from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Brimbank. Ardeer Post Office opened on 1 December 1953 as suburban development took place and closed in 1979. Ardeer today is a small suburb split into two enclaves by Kororoit Creek. The area south of Forrest Street previously known as Ardeer was rezoned in the late 1990s to be incorporated into Sunshine West. A section of the Kororoit Creek runs along the north and west border of Ardeer. The Kororoit Creek Trail contains wide open park space and native vegetation rarely seen so close to the Melbourne CBD.

ARMADALE
Armadale, a residential area 7 km. south-east of Melbourne, is situated either side of the former municipal border between Prahran and Malvern. It is named after Armadale House, the residence of James Munro (1832-1908), Premier and Attorney-General, speculator and failed land-boomer. Munro was born in Armadale, Sutherlandshire, Scotland.
In 1879 when the railway line was connected between South Yarra .and Oakleigh a station was opened at Armadale. This resulted in a commercial centre around the station and residential subdivisions nearby. A State primary school was opened in 1884. Several large residences in generous grounds were built. Some survive, but mostly in diminished allotments. A tramline along the southern edge of Armadale (Dandenong and Wattletree Roads) was opened in 1928 and along the northern edge (Malvern Road) in 1915. Lauriston Girls' School, near Malvern and Glenferrie Roads, was opened in 1901. Armadale's census population in 1911 was 4,298.
The suburb has its own railway station, as well as Toorak railway station, which is also in Armadale. It is bordered by Glenferrie Road to the east, Orrong Road to the west, Malvern Road to the north and Dandenong Road/Princes Highway to the south. The suburb, which borders Toorak, long regarded Melbourne's top suburb, is considered one of Melbourne's premier blue chip areas, with High Street, its main thoroughfare, containing many antique and high fashion shops. Glenferrie Road, a divider between Armadale and neighbouring suburb Malvern, is well known for its shopping and restaurants.
Notable residents:
Forbes Carlile - Olympics swimming coach was born in Armadale in 1921.
Missy Higgins - Singer-songwriter who attended Armadale Primary School.
Ross Higgins - Actor, best known for his role as Ted Bulpitt in the television series Kingswood Country was born in Armadale in 1931.
Sam Loxton - Test cricketer who attended Armadale Public School.
Leonie Wood - Journalist with The Age, lives in Armadale.


Arthurs Seat

ARTHURS SEAT
Arthurs Seat is a hill and locality on the Mornington Peninsula, within the Shire of Mornington Peninsula, about 75 km south east of Melbourne, Australia. It was named by Acting Lieutenant John Murray when he entered Port Phillip in the ship Lady Nelson in January 1802, for an apparent resemblance to Arthur's Seat hill in Edinburgh (which was his home city). Captain Matthew Flinders climbed Arthurs Seat on 27 April 1802. In 1896, a rough track was made to the summit, and the first resident, farmer and orchardist James Chapman, settled on top of the mountain. A properly graded road was built in 1929 and the lookout tower opened in 1934. The 950 m long chairlift route was built in 1960 and opened on 22 December 1960. It became a popular tourist attraction, with an estimated 100,000 users in 2002 according to the Mornington Peninsula Tourism Council.

ASHBURTON
Ashburton, a mostly postwar residential suburb, is 11 km. south east of Melbourne. The locality's name arose when the station on the Outer Circle railway line (1890} was named Ashburton, at the suggestion of a former local councillor, E. Dillon who had lived in Ashburton Terrace, Cork, Ireland. An unrealised objective of the railway line had been to stimulate residential development, but the locality was best known for the Ashburton forest, overlooking Gardiners Creek, as a site for picnics. The Outer Circle railway, originally from Oakleigh to Melbourne via Fairfield, was abbreviated to spur lines from Camberwell within a few years, northwards to Deepdene and southwards to Ashburton, and no other fixed rail transport was provided for Ashburton. The residential development of Ashburton awaited Melbourne's postwar metropolitan expansion and increased car ownership.
Ashburton features a retail area around High Street, has two train stations (Ashburton and Alamein) and contains a branch of the Boroondara Library.

ASPENDALE / ASPENDALE GARDENS
Aspendale is 26 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Aspendale was occupied by the Australian Aboriginals for many thousands of years before European settlement. Europeans began farming the area in the 19th century and displaced local inhabitants. When European appropriation began, the land was occupied by the Bunurong people. The geography of the area at the start of European settlement consisted of large sand dune complexes on the coast, and wetland areas inland. The area is flat and low-lying, reaching above sea level by only a few metres. The geography and ecology of the area has undergone radical changes as a result of European settlement. Much of the wetlands have been drained, and only modest remnants of the sand dunes exist today near the beach.
Although no wetland areas remain in Aspendale itself, significant wetland areas have been preserved in the adjacent suburbs of Edithvale and Aspendale Gardens and these areas provide a good indication of what Aspendale once would have looked like. Aspendale was home to Aspendale Park racecourse, a horse racing and motor racing track. The suburb's name comes from Aspen, a successful racehorse. Aspendale train station was built primarily to cater towards the racing crowd in the early part of the 20th century. The racecourse closed in the 1920s, and nothing remains of it. Aspendale Gardens Primary School is the newest part of the Aspendale area. The suburb adjoins the Edithvale Wetlands.
Aspendale is bisected by the Nepean Highway and the Frankston line. These provide the main connections to inner Melbourne. On the beach side of the highway, there is more medium density development, and land prices are much higher. Some larger blocks with older houses remain in this area, although many of these larger blocks have been subdivided into flats and units in the past two decades. On the other side of the Nepean Highway, housing is typically low-density, and land values are lower. The Eastern boundary of Aspendale is the Mordialloc main drain.

ASCOT VALE / ASCOT VALE WEST
Ascot Vale is a suburb 7km north-west of Melbourne. Ascot Vale West Post Office opened on 1 January 1888 and was renamed Ascot Vale around 1893. An Ascot Vale East office was open from 1914 until 1979. Ascot Vale was founded as a dry suburb, but hotels were soon built at the outside corners of the settlement. It is currently the first point of call for all packages imported to Victoria by UPS. Ascot Vale station opened on November 1, 1860 as part of the private Melbourne and Essendon Railway Company line to Essendon. The station closed with the line in 1864 until it was reopened in 1871 under government ownership.
Ascot Vale is bounded in the west by the Maribyrnong River, in the north by Maribyrnong and Ormond Roads, in the east by the Moonee Ponds Creek, and in the south by Lyons Road, Epsom Road to the railway line thence generally north-east to Moonee Ponds Creek. A major landmark in the suburb is the Royal Melbourne Showgrounds, which has special events such as the annual Royal Melbourne Show. The Showgrounds are adjacent to the Flemington Racecourse which is in neighbouring Flemington.

ASHWOOD
Ashwood is 14 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Ashwood was named after the suburbs of Burwood and Ashburton, because it appears between the two. Up to the early 1950s, when residential development commenced in the area, Warrigal Road formed the boundary of suburban development, with market gardens, poultry farms and unmade roads to the east. By 1951 the population of Ashwood had risen to an estimated 1500 persons. The Post Office opened on 3 October 1949, but was known as Ashburton East until 1951. Jordanville Post Office in the suburb opened in 1953.
Ashwood is bounded by Huntingdale Road to the east, the Glen Waverley railway line to the south, Warrigal Road to the west and a wandering alignment to the north that approximately follows Carlyle Street, Zodiac Street, Gardiners Creek, Ashwood Drive, Montpellier Road and Arthur Street.

AUBURN
Auburn is a residential area 8 km. east of Melbourne, situated in the Hawthorn area. The area in which Auburn is situated was first called Red Gum Flat. It was well regarded as a source of good clay for brick and pottery products. The name "Auburn" may have come from either or both of two residences built in the 1850s. Auburn Lodge, built by Reverend Henry Liddiard, was on an allotment immediately south of Burwood Road and between Glenferrie and Auburn Roads. To the south of Liddiard's residence John Collings built Auburn House at today's 4 Goodall Street.
In the north-east of the Auburn area early subdividers (i.e. before the coming of the railway in 1882), attempted to market the Rathmines Village. When the railway station was opened the name Auburn overtook other names. The subdivisions in the north-east attracted "gentlemen's private residences."
The area is renowned for its outstanding commercial Victorian architecture, including the Geebung Polo Club (formerly the 'Auburn Hotel'), a giant 3 storey coffee palace in the Second Empire style built in 1888, part of a well preserved streetscape on Auburn Road. Auburn Post Office opened on 10 April 1893.

AVONDALE HEIGHTS
Avondale Heights is a suburb 14km north-west of Melbourne. Avondale Heights is located on a plateau bounded by a large bend of the Maribyrnong River to the east, south, and west, and to the north by Buckley street. The suburb derives its name from the Avondale Estate. Originally known as Maribyrnong West, when the Council undertook to change the name, postal authorities drew attention to the existence of Avondale in Queensland. The suburb was therefore called Avondale Heights to distinguish it from the Queensland town.
Prior to European colonisation of Melbourne, the Wurundjeri Aboriginal people of the Kulin nation moved through the area. Evidence has been found of human occupation for at least 18,000 years. On 10 October 1940, Mr. James White dug up an ancient human skull, (now known as the Keilor Cranium) on the banks of the Maribyrnong River. This skull has been found to be more than 8,000 years and less than 15,800 years old.
Architects Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin prepared plans for part of the area: Milleara Estate in the north (also known as City View) in the 1920s. One objective of their design was to remake suburbia and society. They did this through creating internal gardens where communities could both physical and socially bind together. They imagined children's playgrounds, social centres, nature reserves and links with an intricate system of pedestrian ways.
The streets are designed in a curvilinear way typical of the Griffin's design, often following the topography of the land. There is only one main road - Military Road which runs from Canning Street and Maribyrnong Road, then becoming Milleara Road. There are about 40 shops at the Canning Street end (including Raglan street) and 20 at the other end, near the St Martin De Porres Primary School.
Notable residents:
Matthew Lloyd, Ex AFL footballer, Essendon
Frederick Valentich, who disappeared in the apparent UFO incident over Bass Strait in 1978.

AVONSLEIGH
Avonsleigh is 47 km east from Melbourne's central business district. The Post Office opened as Koenig's in 1902, was renamed Avonsleigh in 1911 and closed in 1985. Avonsleigh was first known as East Emerald. Its current name arose from Avonsleigh guest house, close to the Wright stopping place on the Belgrave to Gembrook railway line (now the "Puffing Billy" scenic railway). J.W. Wright was the owner of the guest house. Until the second world war Avonsleigh was mainly occupied for timber production, but clearance for agricultural land occurred in the post war years. By the 1980s residential subdivisions along major roads occurred and a township of several shops developed.