Port Melbourne
Port Melbourne
Main page
2188320

Port Melbourne

logo
Community Hub0 subscribers
What are your thoughts?
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Port Melbourne

Port Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km (2 mi) south-west of the Melbourne central business district, located within the Cities of Melbourne and Port Phillip local government areas. Port Melbourne recorded a population of 17,633 at the 2021 census.

The area to the north of the West Gate Freeway is located within the City of Melbourne, with The area to the south located within the City of Port Phillip. The suburb is bordered by the shores of Hobsons Bay and the lower reaches of the Yarra River. Port Melbourne covers a large area, which includes the distinct localities of Fishermans Bend, Garden City and Beacon Cove.

Historically it was known as Sandridge and developed as the city's second port, linked to the nearby Melbourne CBD.

The formerly industrial Port Melbourne has been subject to intense urban renewal over the past three decades. As a result, Port Melbourne is a diverse and historic area, featuring industrial and port areas along the Yarra, to open parklands, bayside beaches, exclusive apartments and Bay Street's restaurants and cafes. The suburb also forms a major transport link from east to west, home to one end of the West Gate Bridge.

The most prominent early resident of the area now known as Port Melbourne was Captain Wilbraham Frederick Evelyn Liardet, who arrived in 1839 and established a hotel, jetty, and mail service. Liardet later stated that before his arrival the surveyor William Wedge Darke and his family had camped on the beach in their two roomed, carpeted wooden caravan known as 'Darke's Ark'. Liardet credited Wedge with cutting the first track to the beach through the tea tree scrub and hoisting a barrel on a pole, on a high section of ground, to point the way back to the Melbourne settlement. From this signpost its first official name, 'Sandridge', was said to have originated. The area also became commonly known as 'Liardet's Beach' but Liardet himself was said to have preferred 'Brighton'. It became Port Melbourne in 1884.

The area came into prominence during the Victorian gold rush of the 1850s.[citation needed] With an increasing number of ships looking to berth, Sandridge became a thriving transport hub. To alleviate the high costs of shipping goods via small vessels up the Yarra River to Melbourne the Port Melbourne railway line was built in 1854 to connect Sandridge to Melbourne.[citation needed] The disused Sandridge Bridge takes its name from this historic railway line.[citation needed]

In 1860, Port Melbourne was an early area of Victoria to gain Municipal status with the Sandridge Borough, which later became the City of Port Melbourne.[citation needed]

In the early years of Port Melbourne, the suburb was separated from neighbouring Albert Park by a large shallow lagoon. This was gradually filled in over the years, with the last of it completed in 1929. Today the area is largely covered by the eponymous Lagoon Reserve, a public park to the east of the Esplanade between Liardet Street and Graham Street, although the original extent of the lagoon was much greater.

See all
User Avatar
No comments yet.