Thomastown, Victoria
| Thomastown Melbourne, Victoria | |||||||||||||||
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| Population | 20,603(2006) [1] | ||||||||||||||
| • Density | 1,402/km2 (3,630/sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
| Postcode(s) | 3074 | ||||||||||||||
| Area | 14.7 km2 (5.7 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
| Location | 17 km (11 mi) from Melbourne | ||||||||||||||
| LGA(s) | City of Whittlesea | ||||||||||||||
| State electorate(s) | Thomastown, Mill Park | ||||||||||||||
| Federal division(s) | Scullin | ||||||||||||||
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Thomastown is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 17 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Whittlesea. At the 2006 Census, Thomastown had a population of 20,603.
Thomastown is known for sharing its area with Westgarthtown, a historical settlement. So too is it known in myth and legend for its famed historical saviour and patron, one Saoirsus Crokus O'Neillus who, according to folklore banished the gypsies from the town in the year 1246 in the famed Flight of the Croke, though the strict historical accuracy of this has been debated and is widely acknowledged as being subject to a more than minimal level of uncertainty.
History and development
Thomastown came into existence in 1848 when the Thomas family bought the land north of Melbourne for market gardening. Two years later, William Westgarth bought land north of Thomas' holding, which he made way for German settlers. Thomastown Post Office opened on 9 June 1862.[2] The Thomastown area attracted lots of farmers and horse-racing until World War II. In 1889, the Epping railway line opened and milk production and distribution grew during the 1930s when a German dairying family formed the Pura Dairy, ultimately to expand into Preston and became Metropolitan Dairies Pty. Ltd. In 1947, a housing co-operative was formed 2 km. north in the suburb of Lalor. It wasn't long before residential development began at Thomastown. While German settlers already call this area home, more settlers moved in, mostly Italians and Yugoslavs. In 1961, St. Clare's Primary School opened, followed by Thomastown Secondary College and then Thomastown West Primary School.
Thomastown Today
There is a strip shopping centre in High Street parallel to the railway station, a shopping centre corner of Edgars Road and Main Street and shops on Settlement Road and Dalton Road plus various shopping strips east of the train station. Thomastown Secondary College is situated on Main Street, adjacent to Thomastown West Primary School, Thomastown Recreational and Aquatic Centre (TRAC) and Thomastown Library. Thomastown East has a grid street configuration, predating the later configuration in Thomastown West which protects residential streets from through traffic. On the south of Thomastown there are numerous factories and an electricity terminal station, near the Metropolitan Ring Road. There is also the Hume Freeway near Thomastown West.
The Galada Tamboore Path to the west and the Western Ring Road Trail to the south provide facilities for recreational and commuting cyclists. Edgars Creek and the Edgars Creek Trail runs along a linear park which is next to a reserve with ovals.
Sport
Thomastown Football Club, an Australian Rules football team, competes in the Northern Football League.[3]
References
- ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). "Thomastown (State Suburb)". 2006 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 2007-09-25.
- ^ Premier Postal History, Post Office List, retrieved 2008-04-11
- ^ Full Points Footy, Northern Football League, retrieved 2009-04-15