Westgarth is a locality in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is in the Local Government Area of the City of Darebin. It is situated c.4 or 5km from Melbourne's central business district, just north of Clifton Hill, and a few hundred metres south of the main part of Northcote. Merri Creek forms its western border, and to the east lies Fairfield. The term locality has different meanings in different disciplines: Geography In geography, a locality is a place. ... Melbournes CBD has grown to straddle the Yarra River in three major precincts. ... Capital Melbourne Government Constitutional monarchy Governor David de Kretser Premier Steve Bracks (ALP) Federal representation  - House seats 37  - Senate seats 12 Gross State Product (2004-05)  - Product ($m)  $222,022 (2nd)  - Product per capita  $44,443/person (5th) Population (End of September 2006)  - Population  5,110,500 (2nd)  - Density  22. ... Municipalities of Greater Melbourne City of Banyule City of Bayside City of Boroondara City of Brimbank Shire of Cardinia City of Casey City of Darebin City of Frankston City of Glen Eira City of Greater Dandenong City of Hobsons Bay City of Hume City of Kingston City of Knox City... The City of Darebin is a Local Government Area in Victoria, Australia. ... Clifton Hill is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. ... Northcote is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. ... The Merri Creek The Merri Creek is a waterway in Melbourne, Victoria. ... Fairfield is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. ...

Westgarth is regarded as part of Northcote for administrative purposes, although it retains its own geographically distinct commercial centre. Northcote is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. ...

History

Melbourne in 1888. Westgarth is the southern part of Northcote

Westgarth High Street, 2004. Note: Pavements were changed to black asphalt in 2006.

Westgarth Cinema, 2004

Fruit Pedallers organic shop, 2004

Before European occupation, the area was home to the Wurundjeri people. Land c.2km to the south, where Merri Creek meets the Yarra, was an early site of colonial contact, briefly home to the Native Police Corps in 1842, and a school for Aboriginal children until 1851. Land sales occurred in the Northcote area first occurred in 1840, and land was purchased in the area then known as Northcote-by-the-Merri but not immediately developed. Three of the buyers later had streets named after them - Cunningham, Urquhart and Walker. As Northcote, Victoria developed in the mid to late 1800s, Northcote-by-the-Merri became known as Northcote South1. Land was gazetted for development in 1853, but development was relatively slow. All Saints Anglican church dates to 1860 (present building, 1870), and the Bridge Hotel to 1864. 1888 German map of Melbourne File links The following pages link to this file: History of Melbourne Northcote, Victoria Westgarth, Victoria Categories: Public domain images ... 1888 German map of Melbourne File links The following pages link to this file: History of Melbourne Northcote, Victoria Westgarth, Victoria Categories: Public domain images ... Download high resolution version (1632x1224, 1447 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (1632x1224, 1447 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (1632x1224, 1295 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (1632x1224, 1295 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Fruitpedallerswestgarth. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Fruitpedallerswestgarth. ... The Wurundjeri are Aboriginal people of the Kulin nation, who occupied what is now Melbourne, Australia prior to European settlement of the area. ... The Merri Creek The Merri Creek is a waterway in Melbourne, Victoria. ... The Yarra River is a river in southern Victoria, Australia. ... From as early as the 1830s, a Native Police Corps was established in the Australian colony of New South Wales (now Victoria). ... Northcote is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. ...

The suburb won its present name between 1906 and 1910, with the decision to name the railway station after William Westgarth. Westgarth (1815-89)[1], a Scottish merchant, politician and historian, played a key role in Melbourne's early history as a representative of the city in the New South Wales Parliament and later the Victorian Legislative Council, and chair of the Commission of Inquiry into the Eureka Stockade uprising which endorsed many of the goldfields diggers' grievances. He owned land locally before returning to Britain in the 1850s. The Eureka Stockade was a gold miners revolt in 1854 in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, against the officials supervising the mining of gold in the region of Ballarat. ...

Westgarth's development accelerated - along with that of many other Melbourne suburbs - in the boom of the 1880s. As the children of the Gold Rush generation formed their own families, Melbourne's population swelled. The Victorian Parliament reacted by using railway lines to open up new housing areas. The railway line from Clifton Hill to Alphington was opened in 1884, and the railway station was linked to Melbourne via a western loop in 1888. A cable tram line down High Street to Clifton Hill was opened in 1886, faltered after the land market collapse of 1892, and opened and closed again until reopening permanently in 1901. Building continued through the Edwardian era and into the 1920s, and in 1925 the Northcote tram was connected right through to the city centre. The present commercial and shopping strip along High St. dates to the early 1900s, and Westgarth Primary School to 1925, when it opened as Westgarth Central School. The art nouveau Westgarth Theatre, the suburb's best-known landmark, opened in 1920. Clifton Hill is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. ... Alphington is a suburb of Melbourne, Australia, in the state of Victoria. ... Westgarth Railway Station is in Westgarth, Victoria. ... High Street is a major southeast-northwest thoroughfare in Melbourne, Australia. ... Westgarth Primary School Clarke Street entrance Westgarth Primary School is a Victorian government primary school in the Melbourne suburb of Northcote. ...

The 1960s and 1970s saw an influx of southern European immigrants to the area, in common with other City of Darebin suburbs. By the 1970s the Westgarth Theatre catered largely to a Greek-speaking cinema audience. Westgarth school photos and class lists from the 1970s are dominated by Greek names and faces. That influence began to fade in the 1980s, with the arrival of a new generation of Westgarth residents with higher incomes and education levels. The process of gentrification accelerated through the 1990s, fuelled by the suburb's central location, attractive streets and housing stock, and its proximity to pricer inner-city suburbs including Fitzroy, Clifton Hill and North Fitzroy. The Westgarth Theatre became an art-house movie venue in 1986 when the Valhalla Cinema relocated after the demolition of its original premises in Richmond. Ten years later, it became the Westgarth Cinema. A number of industrial buildings along High St. were converted to residential use in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Westgarth Primary School's original building was demolished in 1990 and replaced by an open-plan building. The City of Darebin is a Local Government Area in Victoria, Australia. ... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... Fitzroy is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. ... Clifton Hill is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. ... Fitzroy North is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. ... The Valhalla Cinema was a repertory and arthouse cinema in Melbourne, Australia. ... Richmond is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. ...

Westgarth today

Westgarth Primary School, 2006

Today, Westgarth retains its southern European presence, with many children of the 1960s and 1970s immigrant wave now living in the area. But the area also houses a wide variety of other cultural and language groups. Gentrification has brought back some of the children of Melbourne residents who moved to middle and outer suburbs in the 1950s and 1960s. The area is now known for its local artists, and a lesbian community has also been associated with Westgarth for some years. The best-known local resident is the Australian actor Vince Colosimo. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Vince Colosimo (born November 11, 1966, Melbourne, Australia) is an Australian stage and screen actor. ...

The Westgarth Cinema remains the centre of the small commercial strip at the southern end of High Street, which is now populated by bohemian fashion outlets, cafes and other retail businesses. The strip remains noticeably less developed than its counterparts in Clifton Hill and Fairfield, arguably due in part to the traffic intensity of the relatively narrow High Street. New development has been rare, although new businesses open every few months. The lack of local retail businesses means most Westgarth residents currently travel to other suburbs for groceries and many other needs. Retaining the "village" feel of Westgarth, against mounting commercial pressures to redevelop Victorian heritage buildings and development sites, was the aim of the now-defunct "Save Westgarth Village" campaign.

The Westgarth Cinema was one of the last two remaining single-screen venues in Melbourne, until being redeveloped in 2006. After several years of uncertainty about its commercial survival, the family owners finally sold it to Palace Cinemas in 2005, while retaining ownership of the building. Although many original features have been preserved, it is now a popular multiplex with a 300-seat cinema downstairs and two 150-seat cinemas upstairs.

The train line through Westgarth station is now part of the Hurstbridge line, following an easterly route into the city. A second, proximate station on the Epping line, Rushall, is accessed via a pedestrian and cyclist bridge over the Merri Creek (the bridge connects through to an east-west cycle route along Linear Park, one of the nicest such parks in Melbourne). The High Street tram line is now Melbourne tram route 86. The Hurstbridge railway line is a suburban railway in Melbourne, Australia. ... The Epping railway line is a suburban electric railway in Melbourne, Australia. ... Rushall station at dusk Rushall station, Connex train, bridge over Merri Creek, 2004 Rushall railway station (station code: RUS), opened in 1927, is on the Epping line in Melbourne, Australia. ... The Merri Creek The Merri Creek is a waterway in Melbourne, Victoria. ... The city of Melbourne, the second-largest city in Australia, is home to the third largest tram network in the world, consisting of 245 kilometres of track, 500 trams[1], and 1813 tram stops [2]. Operated by the private company Yarra Trams since privatisation in 1999, Melbournes trams contribute...

Westgarth Primary School is the area's main school. It now caters to approximately 400 students in grades from preparatory to year six. The Jika Jika Community centre is the main meeting place for local events and activities. Westgarth Primary School Clarke Street entrance Westgarth Primary School is a Victorian government primary school in the Melbourne suburb of Northcote. ...

1 The term "Northcote South" is beginning to come back into use by local real estate agents.

External links

• Westgarth entry in the Australian Places project
• Westgarth Primary School, Clarke St.
• Jika-Jika community centre, Plant and Union Streets
• Map of surroundings, from Multimap
• Satellite photo from maps.google.com
• William Westgarth
• Friends of Merri Creek
• Details of early cable tram, with photos

References

• Ellender, Isabel and Peter Christiansen. 1999. People of the Merri Merri. The Wurundjeri in Colonial Days. ISBN 0-9577728-0-7
• Lemon, Andrew. 1983. The Northcote Side of the River. City of Northcote in conjunction with Hargren Publishing Company.
• Various authors, 1992. Westgarth Memories. Published by Westgarth Primary School. See here
• Frost, Lionel. 1990. Australian Cities in Comparative View. McPhee Gribble. ISBN 0-86914-187-2
• Twentyman, A. E. (1971) ‘The Northcote and Preston Cable Tramway’, Running Journal October 1971, Tramway Museum Society of Victoria