Moonee Ponds, Victoria
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Moonee Ponds is an inner-city suburb in
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
,
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 ...
, north-west of Melbourne's
Central Business District A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...
, located within the
City of Moonee Valley The City of Moonee Valley is a Local government areas of Victoria, local government area located within the metropolitan area of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, on Wurundjeri, Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country. It comprises th ...
local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a federated state, state, province, division (politica ...
. Moonee Ponds recorded a population of 16,224 at the 2021 census. Moonee Ponds is home to Queens Park and the
Moonee Valley Racecourse Moonee Valley Racecourse, currently marketed as The Valley, is a horse-racing track in Moonee Ponds, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. History Moonee Valley Racecourse was established in 1883 by William Samuel (W.S.) Cox, who purchased a far ...
.


History

Moonee Ponds probably derives from a local aboriginal word meaning 'small flats', and was in reference to Mone Mone Creek. The area was part of the Essendon district - later City of Essendon - and was largely developed from the late 1800s. Mount Alexander Road led to the goldfields near Mt Alexander, and became a major commercial thoroughfare. The Moonee Ponds Junction includes the Clocktower Centre, formerly used as the Essendon Town Hall and council chambers. Puckle Street was developed in the 1890s, with the first Ferguson Plarre Bakery located on the street. Queen's Park was the site of where Burke and Wills camped in 1860 on their expedition from Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpentaria. Planting of most of the trees and landscaping of the gardens and lake began in the 1880s.


Demographics

In Moonee Ponds 69.9% of people were born in Australia. The other most common countries of birth were Italy 5.4%, India 2.6%, England 2.3%, Greece 1.5%, and New Zealand 1.5%. 70.9% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Italian 8.8%, Greek 3.6%, Cantonese 1.0%, Spanish 0.9% and Mandarin 0.9%.


Sport

Essendon Royals Soccer Club is located in Moonee Ponds and plays in the
Victorian State League The Victorian State League, known as VETO Sports State League for sponsorship purposes is an Australian soccer league based in Victoria that was founded in 1958 and administered by Football Victoria. It consists of five divisions (separated by ...
. The suburb 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, Maribyrnong Park playing in the
Essendon District Football League The Essendon District Football League (EDFL) is a semi-professional Australian rules football league competition based in Essendon, Victoria, consisting of teams based in the north-west suburbs of Melbourne. Founded in 1930, the men's competi ...
, and another,
Moonee Valley Football Club The Essendon District Football League (EDFL) is a semi-professional Australian rules football league competition based in Essendon, Victoria, consisting of teams based in the north-west suburbs of Melbourne. Founded in 1930, the men's competi ...
, based at Ormond Park competing in the same league. Moonee Valley Cricket Club also located at Ormond Park competes in the VTCA.


Transport

Moonee Ponds station is located at the western end of Puckle Street, on the
Craigieburn railway line The Craigieburn line is a commuter railway line in the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Operated by Metro Trains Melbourne, it is the city's seventh shortest metropolitan railway line at . The line runs from Flinders Street station in ...
.
Bus route A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used i ...
467 runs from the station to
Aberfeldie Aberfeldie is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Moonee Valley local government area. Aberfeldie recorded a population of 3,925 at the . Aberfeld ...
. For details of other
tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...
/bus routes see
Moonee Ponds Junction Moonee Ponds Junction is a bus and tram interchange on the junction of Ascot Vale Road / Pascoe Vale Road and Mount Alexander Road in Moonee Ponds, Melbourne (Puckle Street / Dean Street also meets at the same point). It is located approximate ...
which is located at the eastern end of Puckle Street. The Maribyrnong River Trail and Moonee Ponds Creek Trail are cycling tracks in and around Moonee Ponds.


Attractions

The Clocktower Centre was originally constructed as the
Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club, in the Australian Football League *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington United Kin ...
Mechanics' Institute, which the State of Victoria later purchased to become the Essendon Town Hall. Today it is primarily used as a large theatre. As well as serving for some international, interstate and local functions, the centre has a number of conference rooms. It is named after its prominent clock tower. The clocktower is often used every 2 years by St Monica's Primary School. - (20 Robinson Street) Moonee Ponds Junction is the centre of the suburb, with buses, trams and trains all converging in the area. The Clocktower Centre is nearby. Puckle Street is the main shopping street with many shops and cafes along its length. At its eastern end is Moonee Ponds Junction and at its western end is Moonee Ponds train station. Moonee Ponds Central Shopping Centre also has many stores. The
Moonee Valley Racecourse Moonee Valley Racecourse, currently marketed as The Valley, is a horse-racing track in Moonee Ponds, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. History Moonee Valley Racecourse was established in 1883 by William Samuel (W.S.) Cox, who purchased a far ...
is one of Melbourne's four horse racing tracks.


Notable residents

Moonee Ponds is the location of the office and private home of politician and former Australian Opposition Leader
Bill Shorten William Richard Shorten (born 12 May 1967) is an Australian former politician and trade unionist. He was the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and Leader of the Opposition (Australia), Leader of the Opposition from 2013 to 2019. He also ...
. Australian singer
Tina Arena Filippina Lydia "Tina" Arena (born 1 November 1967) is an Australian singer-songwriter, musician, musical theatre actress and record producer. She is one of Australia's highest-selling artists and has sold over 10 million records worldwid ...
and photographer
Ruth Hollick Ruth Miriam Hollick (17 March 1883 – 7 April 1977) was an Australian portrait and fashion photographer who was one of Melbourne's leading Pictorialist photographers during the 1920s. Education and personal life Ruth Miriam Hollick was born in ...
grew up in the area. An incomplete list of its other residents includes: * Shaun Atley, North Melbourne Footballer and part-time DJ. *
Allen Aylett Allen James Aylett OBE (24 April 1934 – 16 September 2022) was an Australian rules football player and administrator, best known for his administrator career for which he was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2006. As chairman ...
, former
North Melbourne Football Club The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Kangaroos or colloquially the Roos, is a professional Australian rules football club. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AF ...
player and chairman/president *
Aydan Calafiore Aydan Calafiore, also known as simply AYDAN, is an Australian singer best recognized for being one of the four finalists in the seventh season of ''The Voice Australia'' in 2018 and for his role as main cast member in Network Ten's 2012 reboot ...
, The Voice and Eurovision: Aus Decides 2019 contestant and singer * E. Morris Miller, philosopher and vice-chancellor, earlier a member of the Moonee Ponds Mental Improvement Society * Jason Moran, Melbourne underworld figure * Jake Webster, former
Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm is a rugby league football club based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia that participates in the National Rugby League (NRL). The club plays its home games at AAMI Park, and wears a purple and navy blu ...
player who now plays for
Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers (often abbreviated to Hull KR) are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Craven Park, Hull, Craven Park and compete in Super League, the top tier of B ...
in the
Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...
* Lilian Wells, only woman president of
Congregational Union of Australia The Congregational Union of Australia was a Congregational church, Congregational Christian denomination, denomination in Australia that stemmed from the Congregational church, Congregational Church in England as settlers migrated from there to ...
, and first moderator of the NSW Synod,
Uniting Church in Australia The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) is a united church in Australia. The church was founded on 22 June 1977 when most Wiktionary:congregation, congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church o ...
. She was born in Moonee Ponds. The fictitious character of
Dame Edna Everage Dame Edna Everage, often known simply as Dame Edna, is a character created and portrayed by Australian comedian Barry Humphries, known for her lilac-coloured ("wisteria hue") hair and cat eye glasses ("face furniture"); her favourite flower, ...
also claimed to be from Moonee Ponds. There is a street in the suburb named Everage Street in her honour.


See also

*
City of Essendon The City of Essendon was a Local government in Australia, local government area about northwest of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The city covered an area of , and existed from 1861 until 1994. Hist ...
– Moonee Ponds was previously within this former local government area.


References

{{Authority control Suburbs of Melbourne Suburbs of the City of Moonee Valley Essendon, Victoria