North Melbourne, Victoria
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
North Melbourne is a suburb of Melbourne, Australia in the state of Victoria. It is in the Local Government Area of the City of Melbourne.
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[edit] History
North Melbourne's first institutions were built in the 1840s, beginning with a cattle yard. At this time the suburb was not well defined and included Parkville and Royal Park as part of West Melbourne. In the 1850s a Benevolent Asylum was built between Abbotsford and Curzon Streets, coinciding with the desire to find space to accommodate the growing population from the gold rush. In 1859 the area was named Hotham borough, after the governor of Victoria and by 1861 had a population of over 7000.
The suburb was a predominately working class area with most of the males employed in local industry. In 1869 they decided to form the North Melbourne Football Club that later became a foundation member of the VFA (Australian rules football). On the 26 August 1887 the borough was renamed North Melbourne Town after the completion of the imposing North Melbourne Town Hall and the Metropolitan Meat Market.
During the 1890s tram routes had entered the area as far as Abbotsford Street, walking distance from the Arden Street Oval. In the 1930s many areas of North Melbourne, in particular the laneways, became overcrowded and defined as slums. As such, large government housing development projects were proposed, which were eventually completed in the 1960s.
Since North Melbourne is close to the city (less than 3 kilometres) the suburb slowly became gentrified by a younger demographic during the 1980s. However, it was not until the early 1990s that shopping strips such as Errol Street (where the North Melbourne Town Hall is located) became noticeably upmarket.
While three state schools existed in North Melbourne in 1900, only one, Errol Street Primary School, remains. However, there is still a large Catholic school presence in the area.
The most interesting buildings to visit, apart from the North Melbourne Town Hall and the meat market (now a craft centre), are the Curzon street church, the Howard Street Anglican church, and especially the ornate Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral, built in 1963 on the high part of Dryburgh Street.
[edit] Government
North Melbourne is in the Melbourne City Council, under current lord mayor John So.
[edit] Culture
North Melbourne still retains many of its working class culture with nearly half the area of the suburb still taken up by factories. There is a strong migrant mix here too, with low income families arriving from Somalia, Eritrea and Vietnam living in the numerous housing commission flats.
"Spring Fling" is an annual festival for North and West Melbourne.
The North Melbourne Football Club is still active and now playing in the national Australian Football League as the "Kangaroos", although it has since moved from its home ground at Arden street to the larger Telstra Dome.
However, demographics have changed over recent years. House prices are now 30% above Melbourne's mean, many cafes and boutiques have opened up along the main shopping strip of Errol Street and the Public Record Office building was recently constructed on Shiel Street, replacing an abandoned warehouse.
North Melbourne retains an attraction to new arrivals through its proximity to the city, a location fronting onto the expansive Royal Park and the ubiquity of old Victorian-style terrace houses.
[edit] Transport
Public transport in North Melbourne is comprehensive, with three tram routes:
- Route 59 (Airport West): travels along Elizabeth Street and down Flemington Road
- Route 57 (Maribyrnong ): travels along Victoria, Errol, Abbotsford and Curzon Streets, then down Flemington Road
- Route 55 (West Coburg): travels down Flemington Road and then into Royal Park at Abbotsford Street, just skimming the boundary of North Melbourne.
There is a bus route (402) and train stations North Melbourne and Flemington Bridge. North Melbourne is well serviced by Flemington Road, Elizabeth Street and Victoria Street.
[edit] External links
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| Melbourne suburbs near North Melbourne (City of Melbourne) |
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| Flemington | Parkville | Carlton North |
| Kensington | North Melbourne | Carlton |
|---|---|---|
| West Melbourne | West Melbourne | Melbourne |
| Suburbs of the City of Melbourne | |
|---|---|
|
Carlton | Carlton North | East Melbourne | Flemington | Kensington | Melbourne city centre | Docklands | North Melbourne | Port Melbourne | Parkville | Southbank | South Yarra | West Melbourne |
