Junortoun is a suburb of

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban population of 100,991, makin ...

, Victoria,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The suburb is located east of the Bendigo city centre along the McIvor Highway. At the

2016 census Sixteen or 16 may refer to: *16 (number), the natural number following 15 and preceding 17 *one of the years 16 BC, AD 16, 1916, 2016 Films * ''Pathinaaru'' or ''Sixteen'', a 2010 Tamil film * ''Sixteen'' (1943 film), a 1943 Argentine film dir ...

, Junortoun had a population of 3,201.

History

The original inhabitants of Junortoun were the Dja Dja Warrung people who lived throughout the Loddon Valley for thousands of years prior to European settlement. It was originally established as “Homebush”, centred around the "Homebush" Estate. Homebush was an estate of some 2,000 acres extending along the valley of Splitters Creek, and was also the receiving Post Office for the district up until the early 1970s. The name was changed to Junortoun around 1912 to avoid confusion with Homebush, New South Wales. The owner of "Homebush" estate proposed the name "Junor" after his wife's maiden name and this was submitted to the authorities. However, this name was rejected on the grounds that it was too close to "Junee" in New South Wales. At a subsequent meeting the suffix "toun" was added to "Junor" and again submitted and this was found to be acceptable. Junortoun is one of the many localities in the region that can trip-up and tongue-tie visitors with its pronunciation. Junortoun is in fact pronounced as ''joo-ner-t'n''. Junortoun is surrounded by the Bendigo suburbs of East Bendigo,

Strathdale Strathdale is a suburb of the regional city of Bendigo in north central Victoria, Australia, east of the Bendigo city centre. Victory Christian College Victory Christian College is an independent Christian Prep to Year 12 school located in ...

Kennington Kennington is a district in south London, England. It is mainly within the London Borough of Lambeth, running along the boundary with the London Borough of Southwark, a boundary which can be discerned from the early medieval period between the ...

, Strathfieldsaye and the outer-rural suburbs of

Longlea Longlea is a locality in the City of Greater Bendigo in central Victoria, Australia east of the Bendigo central business district and approximately North-West (by road) from the Victorian Capital of Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ ...

and Wellsford. Today, Junortoun is a growing residential suburb, comprising a mix of low, medium and high-density residential land.

Community facilities

Schools

Junortoun includes the Coolock campus of Catholic secondary school Catherine McAuley College. The campus was originally established in 1954 by the Vincentian Fathers. In 1977 governance changed to the Marist Brothers, and in 1983 governance changed to a partnership between the Marist Brothers and the Sisters of Mercy. In January 2013, the campus became the sole governance of the Sisters of Mercy and in 2018, the school was renamed from Catholic College Bendigo (CCB), signifying the end to the Sisters of Mercy and the Marist Brothers governance partnership formed in 1983 and became known as Catherine McAuley College.

Sporting facilities

Lords Raceway is home to the Bendigo

Harness Racing Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait (a trot or a pace). They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, or spider, or chariot occupied by a driver. In Europe, and less frequently in Australi ...

Club and

greyhound racing Greyhound racing is an organized, competitive sport in which greyhounds are raced around a track. There are two forms of greyhound racing, track racing (normally around an oval track) and coursing; the latter is now banned in most countries. Tra ...

organised by the Bendigo Greyhound Racing Association.

Other facilities

Junortoun has a CFA station, a

Baptist Church 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 ...

, pub and an army training base. The

O'Keefe Rail Trail The O'Keefe Rail Trail is a rail trail connecting Bendigo with Heathcote. The sandy gravel trail runs along a former branch line on the Melbourne-Sydney rail line. It previously ran from Bendigo to Axedale but works completed in 2015 extended t ...

runs through the suburb and is a sandy gravel trail that runs along a former branch line on the Melbourne-Sydney rail line. The disused railway track has been converted into a multi-use path, typically used for walking and cycling.

References

Suburbs of Bendigo Bendigo {{VictoriaAU-geo-stub