South Melbourne, Victoria

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South Melbourne
Melbourne, Victoria

Former City of South Melbourne coat of arms

Population:

7,744 (2001 Census)^[1]

Established:

1840s

Postcode:

3205

Area:

2.5 km²

Property Value:

AUD $572,500 ^[2]

Location:

3 km from Melbourne

LGA:

City of Port Phillip

State District:

Albert Park

Federal Division:

Melbourne Ports

Suburbs around South Melbourne
Docklands	Southbank	Southbank
Port Melbourne	South Melbourne	Melbourne
Albert Park	Albert Park	Melbourne

South Melbourne Town Hall. The colours of the Swans Australian Football League club are draped from the tower with respect to the former South Melbourne team competing in the 2006 AFL Grand Final.

South Melbourne is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is located in the City of Port Phillip. Historically, it was known as Emerald Hill.

The suburb is notable as it was the first of Melbourne's suburbs to adopt full municipal status and is, along with Fitzroy, one of Melbourne's oldest suburbs.

1 History
2 Features
3 Sport
4 Gallery
5 References
6 Famous former residents
7 External links

[edit] History

Before European settlement, the area now called South Melbourne featured a single hill (where the Town Hall now stands) surrounded by swamps.

The Hill was a traditional social and ceremonial meeting place for Aboriginal tribes.

The area was first settled by Europeans in the 1840s and became known as Emerald Hill.

During the Victorian Gold Rush of 1851 a tent city, known as Canvas Town was established.

Land sales at Emerald Hill began in 1852 and independence from Melbourne was granted in 1855, with Emerald Hill becoming the first municipality other than Geelong, to be declared in the colony (the town's motto “In Ordine Primum”, means 'first in the field')

The new town developed rapidly. In 1870 Emerald Hill became a borough, by 1872 was proclaimed a Town. The South Melbourne Town Hall was built during this time, and designed in suitable grandeur to evoke the city's booming status. In 1883 and Emerald Hill became a city, changing its official name to South Melbourne.

South Melbourne experienced a decline in the 1950s as Melbourne sprawled outwards. Like many other Melbourne inner city suburbs, during the 1960s the Victorian Housing Commission stepped in and erected several hi-rise public housing towers, the tallest and largest of which, Park Towers is in South Melbourne. The result was an injection of migrants adding to the multicultural flavour of the area.

In the 1980s, South Melbourne experienced one of Melbourne's biggest waves of gentrification. Many of the terrace homes were restored and renovated and a new middle class moved in. As a result of the development of Southbank in the 1990s, Clarendon Street has become one of the highest rental yielding commercial streets in the entire city of Melbourne, attracting many of the residents from the apartment buildings to shop.

[edit] Features

The main commercial district is centred around Clarendon Street and includes the vibrant South Melbourne market.

The town hall precinct is home to some of Melbourne's best examples of Victorian architecture.

In recent years, South Melbourne has seen an increase in population density due to apartment development in nearby Southbank, Victoria, where development has spilled over from the Melbourne CBD. To the east, towards St Kilda Road complex are many high rise office buildings.

The South Melbourne market is bordered by Cecil Street, York Street, and Coventry Street.

[edit] Sport

It was once home to the South Melbourne Swans team which played in the Victorian Football League (VFL/AFL), which played out of the Lake Oval (now Bob Jane Stadium) in nearby Albert Park before relocating to Sydney in 1982 in a radical move which eventually spawned the national Australian Football League. The Swans, whose red and white were based on the colours of the South Melbourne coat of arms still retain a strong and loyal supporter base in the area, with approximately 7,000 Melbourne based members (a similar number to when the team were based permanently in Melbourne). They have tasted recent premiership success in 2005 after a 72 year drought. The club maintains a local office on Albert Road and retains links to the local community.

The South Melbourne FC is a popular football (soccer) club in the Victorian Premier League which now plays out of Lake Oval, the former home ground of the Swans.