Blackwood is a south eastern

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

located in the foothills of

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, South Australia. It is part of the local government area of the

City of Mitcham The City of Mitcham is a local government area in the foothills of southern Adelaide, South Australia. Within its bounds is Flinders University, South Australia's third largest, and the notable, affluent suburb of Springfield which contains so ...

History

The name "Blackwood" most likely comes from either the

Acacia melanoxylon ''Acacia melanoxylon'', commonly known as the Australian blackwood, is an ''Acacia'' species native in South eastern Australia. The species is also known as Blackwood, hickory, mudgerabah, Tasmanian blackwood, or blackwood acacia. The tree belon ...

, also known as the Australian blackwood, which grows in the nearby

Mount Lofty Ranges The Mount Lofty Ranges are a range of mountains in the Australian state of South Australia which for a small part of its length borders the east of Adelaide. The part of the range in the vicinity of Adelaide is called the Adelaide Hills and ...

, or the

Eucalyptus odorata ''Eucalyptus odorata'', commonly known as peppermint box, is a species of mallee or a small tree that is endemic to South Australia. It has rough, hard bark on the trunk and larger branches, smooth greyish bark on the thinner branches, lance-sha ...

, which grows in Blackwood and has dark bark. The earliest reference to Blackwood was a mention of Blackwood Vale Farm in 1847, though this is in present-day Glenalta. One of the earliest places named for Blackwood was the Blackwood Inn, which opened in 1869. In 1880 it changed names to the Belair Hotel. Belair Post Office opened on 3 April 1859 and was renamed Blackwood in 1881, when the Belair office was moved some distance away. The first land grants in the area had been made in 1840, and various churches were established throughout the 19th century, but most development in Blackwood didn't take place until the

Aldgate Aldgate () was a gate in the former defensive wall around the City of London. It gives its name to Aldgate High Street, the first stretch of the A11 road, which included the site of the former gate. The area of Aldgate, the most common use of ...

section of the Adelaide-Wolseley railway line was opened, with Blackwood railway station opening in 1883. Land was subdivided for housing at about the same time and the railway line was later connected all the way to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Places of interest

Blackwood Soldiers' Memorial was erected in 1921 in the most prominent place in Blackwood: the five-ways roundabout. It is a place of Local Heritage, listed for being "a notable landmark in the area".

Wittunga Botanic Garden The Wittunga Botanic Garden is one of three Botanic Gardens in Adelaide, South Australia administered by the Botanic Gardens of South Australia, a State Government statutory authority; the other two are the Adelaide Botanic Garden located in the ...

, originally a private property with English gardens established in 1901, is located in Blackwood and features displays of Australian and South African plants.

Blackwood High School Blackwood High School is a co-educational secondary school located in Eden Hills, a south-eastern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia, offering an international baccalaureate middle-years programme with six nearby primary schools and diploma pr ...

and Blackwood Primary School are located nearby in Eden Hills. St Peters Lutheran School is also located on Cumming Street, opposite to the Blackwood Football Club oval, bordering the suburb of Craigburn Farm. There is diverse fauna in the park that wanders into Craigburn Farm including kangaroos, koalas, and

echidna Echidnas (), sometimes known as spiny anteaters, are quill-covered monotremes (egg-laying mammals) belonging to the family Tachyglossidae . The four extant species of echidnas and the platypus are the only living mammals that lay eggs and the ...

s. Many waterfalls, creeks and gullies are also scattered and found throughout the area. Uniting (former

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

Church of Christ Church of Christ may refer to: Church groups * When used in the plural, a New Testament designation for local groups of people following the teachings of Jesus Christ: "...all the churches of Christ greet you", Romans 16:16. * The entire body of Ch ...

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

and

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

churches are located in Blackwood, as well as

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement

churches including the Hills Christian Family Centre and Frontier Christian centre. Since the late nineteenth century, Main Road, Blackwood and surrounding areas have formed a vibrant and diverse food and retail centre. Blackwood Roundabout looking South-East, January 2012 B1 train substitute bus at Blackwood roundabout

Transport

Blackwood railway station is a transport hub with buses to Adelaide and the outer Southern suburbs, and trains to Adelaide and Belair.

Media

The Blackwood area was home to the ''Coromandel'' (4 August 1945 – 13 August 1970) and its successor, the ''Coromandel Times'' (20 August 1970 – 18 March 1976), published weekly by the Blackwood Progress Association. On 22 January 1970, it changed from a Saturday to a Thursday paper. It is also home to a regional publication, ''The Blackwood Times''. The publication, first issued in December 1994, describes itself as ''"a tabloid size, monthly newspaper, delivered free of charge to over 13,000 households and businesses in Belair, Bellevue Heights, Blackwood, Eden Hills, Coromandel Valley, Glenalta, Hawthorndene, Blackwood Park, Upper Sturt, Aberfoyle Park and Flagstaff Hill."'' Besides local news and events, it also contains information related to the activities of Mitcham Council.

Residents

The suburbs of Blackwood, Glenalta and Craigburn Farm had a combined population of 6,379 in 2,596 households in 2001.

Norman Tindale Norman Barnett Tindale AO (12 October 1900 – 19 November 1993) was an Australian anthropologist, archaeologist, entomologist and ethnologist. Life Tindale was born in Perth, Western Australia in 1900. His family moved to Tokyo and lived ther ...

, an anthropologist, archaeologist and entomologist, lived in his Blackwood residence "Kurlge" from 1955 to 1969. The hip hop group the

Hilltop Hoods Hilltop Hoods is an Australian hip hop group that formed in 1996 in Blackwood, Adelaide, South Australia. They are regarded as pioneers of the "larrikin-like" style of Australian hip hop. The group was founded by Suffa (Matthew David Lambert) a ...

and

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

singer

Beccy Cole Beccy Cole (born Rebecca Diane Thompson, 27 October 1972), also known as Beccy Sturtzel, Rebecca Diane Albeck and Bec O'Donovan, is an Australian country music singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. She has released ten studio albums, wi ...

(whose song ''Blackwood Hill'' references the suburb) are from the area. Award-winning screen composer and filmmaker Milton Trott grew up in Blackwood. Independent Hip-Hop artist

Allday Tomas Henry Gaynor (born 21 February 1991), known professionally as Allday, is an Australian rapper, singer and songwriter from Adelaide, South Australia. Gaynor became active in 2011, when he began uploading his music for free online. Followin ...

also grew up in Blackwood.

Politics

Blackwood is in the state electorate of Waite, represented in the

South Australian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. The other is the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide. Overview The House of Assembly was creat ...

by Labor MP

Catherine Hutchesson Catherine Louise Hutchesson is an Australian politician. She has been a Labor Party member of the South Australian House of Assembly since the 2022 state election, representing Waite. The constituency had been held by the Liberal Party for the ...

, and the federal electorate of Boothby, represented in the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. The term of members of the ...

by Labor MP

Louise Miller-Frost Louise Jane Miller-Frost ( Miller) is an Australian politician elected to represent the division of Boothby in the 2022 Australian federal election. She is a member of the Australian Labor Party. Early life Miller-Frost was born in Hollywoo ...

. Blackwood has a relatively high vote for the Greens when compared to the rest of its electorate and state,

Notes

External links

City of MitchamBlackwood High SchoolAll Hallows' Anglican ChurchBlackwood Hills Baptist
{{Authority control Suburbs of Adelaide