Olinda, Victoria

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Olinda
Melbourne, Victoria

Population:

1576 (2001 census)

Postcode:

3788

Area:

5.8 km²

Property Value:

AUD $325,000 ^[1]

Location:

45 km from Melbourne
8 km from Belgrave

LGA:

Shire of Yarra Ranges

State District:

Monbulk

Federal Division:

La Trobe

Suburbs around Olinda
Dandenong Ranges	Mount Dandenong	Silvan
Sassafras	Olinda	Monbulk
Sherbrooke	Kallista	The Patch

Olinda is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Yarra Ranges. It is covered by the electorates of Casey and La Trobe.

Olinda is named after Olinda Creek, which begins in the township. The creek was named in 1858 after Alice Olinda Hodgkinson, the daughter of Clement Hodgkinson, Victoria's acting Surveyor General. The town was initially a logging settlement, however as land was made available for horticulture in the early 1900s, the town began to grow substantially. Berry farming, dairying, and flower growing became prosperous industries, and tourism soon flourished as the principle industry of Olinda.

It is home to cafes, restaurants (including the famous Cuckoo and Kenloch establishments), antique and craft shops, and numerous art galleries, showcasing local, national, and international artists, in such areas as sculpture and painting. It has a public golf course, public swimming pool, a primary school, and is home to the National Rhododendron Garden and the Olinda state Forest. The Ashendene Boys Home was located in Olinda.

In 1919 the Australian artist Sir Arthur Streeton returned to Australia and built a house on the property called Longacres, in Olinda.