| Mount Evelyn Melbourne, Victoria |
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Mount Evelyn
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| Population: | 9100 (2006)[1] | ||||||||||||
| Postcode: | 3796 | ||||||||||||
| Elevation: | 188 m (617 ft) | ||||||||||||
| Location: | |||||||||||||
| LGA: | Shire of Yarra Ranges | ||||||||||||
| State District: | Evelyn, Monbulk | ||||||||||||
| Federal Division: | Casey | ||||||||||||
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Mount Evelyn is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 37 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Yarra Ranges. At the 2006 Census, Mount Evelyn had a population of 9100.
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Mount Evelyn nestles in a right-angled bend of the Olinda Creek, a large, permanent creek known originally as Running Creek. Different parts of the current Mount Evelyn area were first known as Olinda Vale, Billygoat Hill, McKillop/Valinda and South Wandin. When the (now closed) railway station was opened in 1901, it was named Olinda Vale. It was renamed Evelyn after the County in which it is centrally placed, possibly as part of an attempt by the Victorian Railways to shorten names of stations. By 1913, local progress association members persuaded the Railways to add the "Mount" to promote visitors to the healthy mountain area (which is the highest point on the railway (now Warburton Trail).
The Post Office opened on 15 February 1904 as Valinda (derived from Olinda Vale). The name was changed to Evelyn (the name of the county) in 1908, then to Mount Evelyn in 1913.[2]
Most of the soil in the township is grey, nutrient-poor, and rocky, so attempts to farm at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries failed, making Mount Evelyn a treed and desirable dwelling place in the 21st century.
The Warburton Trail, a walking and cycling track, runs through Mount Evelyn. The trail runs between Lilydale and Warburton.
The Mount Evelyn Aqueduct Walk is another trail connecting Swansea Road to Hunter Road and the Mount Evelyn Forest (part of the Dandenong Ranges National Park).
Mount Evelyn township is developing a profile as a Learning Town in the Shire of Yarra Ranges and the Mount Evelyn Library's strong community focus has contributed to this profile. The Careers Reference Centre, opened in 2002 as a joint project of Eastern Regional Libraries and Morrison House, is a popular resource offering free careers advice to students and people returning to the workforce.
The town has a volunteer managed website dedicated to the town, Mount Evelyn Online and also a monthly community newspaper, the m2. The views expressed in the website and m2 are not moderated by any process by an elected township group, but are submitted by the groups, associations and individuals from Mount Evelyn and Montrose, thus ensuring community involvement.
The town has an Australian Rules football team competing in the Yarra Valley Mountain District Football League.[3]