Sebastopol is a southern suburb on the rural-urban fringe of

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. Within months of Vi ...

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

Sevastopol Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a p ...

, the site of an important battle during the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included t ...

. 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 2018, had a population of 107,325. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. It is primarily urban with the ...

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

single-family detached home A stand-alone house (also called a single-detached dwelling, detached residence or detached house) is a free-standing residential building. It is sometimes referred to as a single-family home, as opposed to a multi-family residential dwellin ...

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

car A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as t ...

dependent areas in the city.

History

The first inhabitants of the area were the

Wathaurong The Wathaurong nation, also called the Wathaurung, Wadawurrung and Wadda Wurrung, 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 ...

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples o ...

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 August 14, 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 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 High School and Juni ...

, 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 Recreation is an activity of leisure, leisure being discretionary time. The "need to do something for recreation" is an essential element of human biology and psychology. Recreational activities are often done for enjoyment, amusement, or ple ...

, 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 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, Australia. The competition formed in 1893 as the Ballarat Football Association and was renamed Ballarat Football ...

. 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 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is t ...

/ soccer in the

Ballarat & District Soccer Association Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. Within months of Vic ...

References

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