Mile End is an inner western

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

, located in the

City of West Torrens The City of West Torrens is a local government area in the western suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia. Since the 1970s, the area was mainly home to many open spaces and parks, however after the mid-1990s (1993–1995) the LGA became more resid ...

, around 2 kilometres from the

Adelaide city centre Adelaide city centre () is the inner city locality of Adelaide, Greater Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia. It is known by locals simply as "the City" or "Town" to distinguish it from Greater Adelaide and from the City of Adelaide l ...

. It has a census area population of 4,413 people (2011). Much of the suburb is residential, but there are small commercial areas along

Henley Beach Road Currie Street is a main street in the Adelaide city centre, South Australia.Map
of the

South Road South Road and its southern section as Main South Road outside of Adelaide is a major north–south conduit connecting Adelaide and the Fleurieu Peninsula, in South Australia. It is one of Adelaide's most important arterial and bypass roads. A ...

History

Mile End was originally established in 1860 as ''The Town of Mile End'' by the South Australian Company. It was so named because the township was approximately one mile from the centre of Adelaide. It was also named after

Mile End Mile End is an area in London, England and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in East London and part of the East End of London, East End. It is east of Charing Cross. Situated on the part of the London-to-Colchester road ...

East London East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...

, England, whose name has a similar meaning. It was part of the then largely rural District of West Torrens until 1883, when the residents of the more urban suburbs of Thebarton, Mile End and Torrensville successfully petitioned to become the Corporation of the Town of Thebarton. In 1997 the Town of Thebarton re-amalgamated with the City of West Torrens. E. M. Bagot and

Gabriel Bennett Gabriel Bennett (23 December 1817 – 13 September 1895) was an auctioneer, stock and cattle salesman and horse breeder in South Australia. He founded the stock and station agents Bennett and Fisher. History Bennett was born in London, a son of ...

had a large holding of grazing land south of Henley Beach Road, part of which (the "Thebarton Racecourse" or colloquially the "Butchers' Course") was used from 1859 to 1869 by a group of "sporting gentlemen", later to become the

South Australian Jockey Club South Australian Jockey Club is the principal race club in South Australia. First racing events The first horse racing events in South Australia took place at a well-attended picnic meeting held over 1 and 2 January 1838. In August 1838, riding ...

, to hold their race meetings. Thebarton Racecourse's legacy is carried by street names running through the area where the racetrack was once located, such as Falcon Street, Ebor Street and Cowra Street, all of which are named after some of the famed race horses of the day. Mile End railway station, built in 1898, is also one mile from the

Adelaide railway station Adelaide railway station is the central Terminal station, terminus of the Adelaide Metro railway system. All lines approach the station from the west, and it is a terminal station with no through lines, with most of the traffic on the metropol ...

Housing

At a time when much working-class housing was sub-standard, on his death in 1897 the wealthy philanthropist

Thomas Elder Sir Thomas Elder (5 August 1818 – 6 March 1897) was a Scottish-Australian Pastoral farming, pastoralist, highly successful businessman, philanthropist, politician, race-horse owner and breeder, and public figure. Amongst many other things, h ...

left a bequest of £25,000 expressly to provide housing, 'libraries, schools, infant nurseries, laundries, baths and washhouses and for any other purpose tending in the opinion of the trustees to the health and moral welfare of working men and working women'. The bequest resulted in the formation of Adelaide Workmen's Homes Inc, and the trustees engaged the architects Edward Davies and Charles Walter Rutt to design a model estate of low-cost rental housing. in Rose Street, Mile End, which was built in 1901–2. This consisted of two rows of semi-detached cottages facing each other across the street, of red brick with dressed stone façades, and featuring crenellated parapets above the entrance porches. They are collectively listed among the 120 nationally significant 20th-century buildings in South Australia.

Railway yards

The Mile End Goods Yard and engine sheds opened in 1912, and the Gaol Loop was built to allow freight trains to access them, bypassing

. This, along with the relocation of livestock markets and abattoirs to

Pooraka Pooraka ( ) is a suburb in Adelaide, South Australia. It is north of the central business district. History The Kaurna people are the people of the Adelaide plains, and inhabited the area for millennia before the colonisation of South Australi ...

(still countryside at the time), allowed the Adelaide station yards to concentrate on passenger and parcels traffic.
(''See also Adelaide railway station#Early 20th century''.) The Mile End Goods Yard remained an important railway complex until the 1980s. Some original railway workers' cottages still exist in Mile End. However, during the 1980s, rail transport declined considerably in Australia and the importance of the Mile End Goods Yard declined with it. The

Mile End Goods railway station Mile End Goods railway station was a railway station located in the suburb of Mile End on the western fringe of the Adelaide city centre in South Australia. It was located 2.9 kilometres from Adelaide station. History It is unclear when t ...

, a station on the commuter line, was closed and demolished in 1994. Prior to its closure it serviced only a few trains in the morning and afternoon, at shift start and end time. The Mile End Railway Museum was also located here until 1988, when the new Port Dock Railway Museum (

National Railway Museum The National Railway Museum (NRM) is a museum in York, England, forming part of the Science Museum Group. The museum tells the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It is the home of the national collection of historical ...

) opened in

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide city centre, Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is t ...

as part of the bicentennial celebrations.

Heritage listings

Mile End contains a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * Bagot Avenue: Council Boundary Marker, Mile End * 1A Falcon Avenue: St James' Anglican Church School * 2-4 Henley Beach Road: Thomas Hardy & Sons Wine Cellars * 94 Henley Beach Road: Savings Bank of South Australia Building * 36-50A & 39-45A Rose Street: Adelaide Workmen's Homes * 32-56 Sir Donald Bradman Drive: Adelaide Electric Supply Co Ltd Complex

Demographics

According to the 2006 Census, the population of the Mile End census area was 3,918 people. Approximately 50.1% of the population were female, 62.5% were Australian born, 6.3% were born in Greece, over 81.3% of residents were Australian citizens and only 1.7% were native-born indigenous people. Mile End has an educated population with over 40.8% of the population holding a degree, diploma or vocational qualification. This level of education attainment is reflected in the suburb's employment patterns: the most popular industries for employment were Health Care (11.9%), Retail Trades (11.6%) and Education (9.6%), while the unemployment rate was approx. 5.6%. The median weekly household income was A$918 or more per week, compared with $924 in Adelaide overall. 21.9% of the population identified themselves as

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, while a slightly higher 24.5% identified with no religion at all. Old Mile End

''See also

Greek Australian Greek Australians () are Australians of Greek ancestry. Greek Australians are one of the largest groups within the global Greek diaspora. As per the 2021 Australian census, 424,750 people stated that they had Greek ancestry (whether alone o ...

s''

Politics

Federal

Mile End was split between two federal electorates until the boundary redistribution in 2018, with that part of the suburb west of South Road formerly having been a part of the

division of Hindmarsh The Division of Hindmarsh is an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian Electoral Division in South Australia covering the north western and western coastal suburbs of Adelaide. The division was one of the seven establ ...

. The suburb is now wholly within the

division of Adelaide The Division of Adelaide is an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian electoral division in South Australia and is named for the city of Adelaide, South Australia's capital. At the 2016 Australian federal election, 2 ...

. It has been represented by Labor MP

Steve Georganas Steven Georganas (; born 13 June 1959) is an Australian politician and is the Australian Labor Party member for the House of Representatives seat of Adelaide in South Australia since the 2019 Australian federal election. Previously, he had been ...

since 2019, and retained with a margin of 11.9% at the 2022 election.

State

Mile End is also a part of the state

electoral district of West Torrens West Torrens is a single-member electoral district for the South Australian House of Assembly. Named after the City of West Torrens (which is so-named because of its location on the River Torrens), it is a 25.1 km² suburban electorate in ...

, held by Labor MP

Tom Koutsantonis Anastasios "Tom" Koutsantonis (born 23 August 1971) is an Australian politician in the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party, representing the seats of West Torrens (2002−current) and Peake (1997−2002) as a Labor member in ...

since 2002. Because West Torrens extends throughout the western suburbs of

, voters are mainly low to middle income earners of working-class backgrounds. Due to this the electorate is considered a safe Labor seat, held by a margin of 18.3% since the 2006 election.

Transport

Cars are the preferred mode of transport in the suburb. According to the

Australian Bureau of Statistics The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is an List of Australian Government entities, Australian Government agency that collects and analyses statistics on economic, population, Natural environment, environmental, and social issues to advi ...

61.8% of residents are drivers or passengers of cars for their commute to work. Mile End is connected to the major Adelaide thoroughfares of

Sir Donald Bradman Drive Sir Donald Bradman Drive (and its western section as Burbridge Road) is a major arterial road that travels east–west through the western suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia. It is the main route from the Adelaide city centre to the Adelaide ...

and

Henley Beach Road Currie Street is a main street in the Adelaide city centre, South Australia.Map
of the

Adelaide's city centre can typically be reached by car in 5 minutes. Because of the area's short distance from major business districts, a larger proportion (5.6%) walk to work, while a slightly smaller number (2.7%) use a bike. Good connections to Adelaide's public transport network mean that 13.5% take the bus to work, while a smaller 0.5% of people use the train. Bus routes connect Mile End to the

as well as

Adelaide Airport Adelaide Airport, also known as Adelaide International Airport, is an International airport, international, Domestic airport, domestic and general aviation airport serving Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. Located approximately 6 km ...

, Glenelg and various locations in the western suburbs. Mile End railway station is located on the Seaford, Tonsley and

Belair Belair or Bélair may refer to: People *Bianca Belair, wrestler *Sanité Bélair (1781–1802), Haitian freedom fighter *Anne Liger-Belair, Belgian writer known as Anne Duguël Places Historic locations *Belair (Nashville, Tennessee), United Sta ...

commuter railway lines, however services outside of peak hour only run hourly and there are no weekend, public holiday or night services.

Notable organisations

Mile End is home to the national headquarters of the

Australian Rail Track Corporation The Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) is an Australian Government-owned statutory corporation. It operates one of the largest rail networks in the nation, spanning across five states and 39 worksites. ARTC continues to expand the networ ...

. Australian film maker, conservationist, survivor of an attack by a great white shark, and one of the world's foremost authorities on that species,

Rodney Fox Rodney Winston Fox (born 9 November 1940) is an Australian film maker, conservationist, survivor of an attack by a great white shark, and one of the world's foremost authorities on that species. He was inducted into the International Scuba D ...

has his Shark Museum on Henley Beach Road in Mile End, across the road from the

Thebarton Theatre The Thebarton Theatre, also known as the Thebbie Theatre or simply Thebbie/Thebby, is an entertainment venue located in the inner-western Adelaide suburb of Torrensville, South Australia. Built in 1926 as a combined town hall / picture theatr ...

Notable residents

* Claude Alfred Haigh (1904-1980) confectioner and bloodhorse breeder. *

Barbara Hanrahan Barbara Janice Hanrahan (6 September 1939 – 1 December 1991) was an Australian artist, printmaker and writer whose work featured relationships, women, women's issues and Feminist movements and ideologies, feminist ideology. Hanrahan was also ...

(1939–1991) artist, printmaker and writer * Kenneth Thomas Hardy (1900-1970) wine merchant. * Allan McLean (1914-1989) (known as Bob McLean) cricketer, Australian Football Rules footballer, sporting administrator.

References

{{City of West Torrens suburbs Suburbs of Adelaide