Sebastopol is a southern suburb on the

rural-urban fringe Peri-urbanisation relates to the processes of scattered and dispersive urban growth that create hybrid landscapes of fragmented and mixed urban and rural characteristics. Such areas may be referred to as the rural–urban fringe, the outskirts ...

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) () is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Ballarat had a population of 111,973, making it the third-largest urban inland city in Australia and the third-largest city in Victoria. Within mo ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. It is the third most populated area in urban Ballarat with a population of 10,194 at the . It is named after

Sevastopol Sevastopol ( ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea and a major port on the Black Sea. Due to its strategic location and the navigability of the city's harbours, Sevastopol has been an important port and naval base th ...

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

, the site of an important battle during the

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

. Formerly a separate town, Sebastopol had municipal status between 1864 and 1994 after which the Borough of Sebastopol was merged into the

City of Ballarat The City of Ballarat is a local government area in the west of the state of Victoria, Australia. It covers an area of and, in June 2023, had a population of 118,137. It is primarily urban with the vast majority of its population living in the ...

. Today it is the site of numerous light-industrial businesses and primarily low cost

single-family detached home A single-family detached home, also called a single-detached dwelling, single-family residence (SFR) or separate house is a free-standing residential building. It is defined in opposition to a multi-family residential dwelling. Definitions ...

s and is a fringe suburb in Ballarat and also one of the most

car A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are around one billio ...

dependent areas in the city.

History

The first inhabitants of the area were the

Wathaurong The Wadawurrung nation, also called the Wathaurong, or Wathaurung, are an Aboriginal Australian people living in the area near Melbourne, Geelong, and the Bellarine Peninsula in the state of Victoria. They are part of the Kulin alliance. The ...

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

tribe. The first settler was Henry Anderson who had a property at Winters Creek. In 1838, Jock Winter named the area "Bonshaw".Sebastopol Timeline: 1800's
/ref> In 1855, it was renamed after

. Sebastopol's origin was a separate working class town servicing the rich gold mining fields south of Ballarat. Albert sebastopol 1866

The Post Office opened on 5 October 1857. Sebastopol Town Hall was opened on 19 March 1869. On 14 August 1913 the tramway to Ballarat opened which led to it becoming by the mid 20th century part of the Ballarat urban area.

Education

Sebastopol is served by a joint primary and secondary school,

Phoenix College Phoenix College (PC) is a Public university, public community college in Encanto, Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 1920, it is one of the oldest community colleges in the country. History The college was originally a part of the Phoenix Union Hi ...

, several kindergartens, a post office and library, and several small shopping precincts including three supermarkets.

Transport

Buses have operated in Sebastopol since 21 September 1971 after they replaced the tram service. Ballarat Transit now provides regular bus services between Ballarat CBD and Sebastopol.

Community

Sebastopol is home to The Complex Recreation Centre, most commonly known as "The Complex". The building was built in 1961 and is rich in history, but has only recently transformed into a second home for Ballarat's troubled youths.

Sport

Sebastopol has an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

team competing in the

Ballarat Football League The Ballarat Football League (BFL) is an Australian rules football competition that operates in the Ballarat region of Victoria (state), Victoria. The competition formed in 1893 as the Ballarat Football Association and was renamed Ballarat F ...

. The Sebastopol Vikings play

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

in the Ballarat & District Soccer Association.

References

Mining towns in Victoria (state) Suburbs of Ballarat {{GrampiansAU-geo-stub