West Croydon is an inner western suburb 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 South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. West Croydon has a

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

of 4,242 as of the ABS 2021 census, and is located 5 km west of the Central Business District of Adelaide. The population has changed greatly over the past 15 years as older residents move away, and younger residents move in. The Suburb is within the Federal seat of

and the City of

Charles Sturt Charles Napier Sturt (28 April 1795 – 16 June 1869) was a British officer and explorer of Australia, and part of the European exploration of Australia. He led several expeditions into the interior of the continent, starting from Sydney and la ...

. Until the early 1920s the suburb was a

farming Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peopl ...

area with infill occurring until the 1970s.

Demographics

The 2021 Census data by the Australian Bureau of Statistics counted 4,242 people within the suburb of West Croydon. Of these 4,242 people, the split between males and females was almost 50:50, with there being 2,150 males and 2,094 females counted. The majority of residents (66.9%) are of Australian birth, with other residents being born in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

(2.9%),

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

(2.6%),

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

(2.5%),

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

(2.4%) and

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

(1.9%). People of

Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. They consist of two distin ...

descent made up 1.3% of the suburb. In terms of religion, 38.8% of the suburb identified as not religious (up from 29.7% in the 2016 census), 23.1% identified as

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, 12.8% identified as

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or " canonical ...

and 5.8% identified as Muslim. 92.6% of the residents were employed, while 7.4% were unemployed.

History

West Croydon transformed from mostly farmland into a suburb in 1925 when the Shillabeer family sold a large portion of East View Farm (established in 1840). In 1944 the Shillabeer farm homestead was purchased by the state government and became the Croydon Technical High School, which later changed name to Croydon High School. Adelaide Secondary School of English moved to the site in 1998. The first '' Allenby Gardens'' Post Office was renamed ''West Croydon'' on 1 March 1945 and closed in 1971. The O–I Adelaide Manufacturing plant located on the far western boundary of West Croydon started manufacturing

glass Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling ( quenching ...

in 1914. The plant continues to produce wine bottles to this day and is set up to service the wine industry in South Australia. It is the major wine bottle producer and supplier to Barossa, McLaren Vale Vale, and the Hunter Valley.

Geography and transport

West Croydon is serviced by Torrens Road to the north and Port Road to the south, with Rosetta Street connecting the two roads and running approximately through the middle of the suburb. West Croydon Station from Euston Terrace

West Croydon Station from Euston Terrace

The suburb is well-serviced by

Adelaide Metro Adelaide Metro is the public transport system of Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia. It is an intermodal system offering an integrated network of bus, tram, and train service throughout the metropolitan area. The network has an ann ...

public transport with trains to the City of Adelaide and Outer Harbor/Grange departing from West Croydon Train Station and various bus routes on both Torrens Road and Port Road.

Politics

Local government

West Croydon is part of Hindmarsh Ward in the

City of Charles Sturt The City of Charles Sturt is a local government area in the western suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia, stretching to the coast. The council was formed on 1 January 1997 as a result of the amalgamation of the City of Hindmarsh Woodville and ...

local government area, being represented by councillors Paul Alexandrides and Alice Campbell.

State and federal

West Croydon lies in the state electoral district of Croydon and the federal

electoral division An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

. The suburb is 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 South Australian Legislative Council, Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House, Adelaide, Parliament House in the st ...

by the premier of South Australia, Labor party leader

Peter Malinauskas Peter Bryden Malinauskas ( ; born 14 August 1980) is an Australian politician, serving as the 47th and current premier of South Australia since March 2022. He has been the leader of the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party (AL ...

and federally by Steve Georganas.

Facilities and attractions

Shopping and dining

West Croydon is home to the West Croydon & Kilkenny RSL/Community Club as well as the Joy of Flora vegan cafe, both located on Rosetta Street. Other businesses on Rosetta Street include a hairdressers, makeup school and vintage clothing and furniture stores.

The first

Krispy Kreme Krispy Kreme, Inc. (previously Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc.) is an American multinational doughnut company and coffeehouse chain. Krispy Kreme was founded by Vernon Rudolph (1915–1973), who bought a yeast-raised recipe from a New Orleans c ...

production hub to exist within Adelaide is located on Port Road, West Croydon.

Parks

MJ McInerney Reserve, Carnarvon Reserve and Croydon Avenue Reserve are all located in West Croydon. MJ McInerney Reserve received a significant upgrade in 2019–20 and received the award for the Best Playspace Over $500k at the 2020 Parks & Leisure Australia (SA/NT) Awards of Excellence.

Schools

Kilkenny Primary School is located on Jane Street in West Croydon. Croydon High School closed at the end of 2006, the site is now occupied by the School of Languages and the

Adelaide Secondary School of English Adelaide Secondary School of English is co-located with the School of Languages west of the city of Adelaide. It is the only Government School for permanent, temporary and overseas full fee paying secondary students aged between 12 and 18 yea ...

. The Australian Islamic College Adelaide is also located in West Croydon.

Places of Worship

Places of worship in West Croydon include the West Croydon United Church on Rosetta Street and St. Elias Antiochian Orthodox Church on Herbert Road.

References

External links

* https://quickstats.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2016/quickstat/SSC41552?opendocument {{coord, 34.890, S, 138.558, E, format=dms, type:city_region:AU-SA, display=title Suburbs of Adelaide