Port Melbourne 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, Australia Victoria, commonly abbreviated as Vic, is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state (after Tasmania), with a land area of ; the second-most-populated state (after New South Wales), with a population of over 7 million; ...

, south-west of the

Melbourne central business district The Melbourne central business district (colloquially known as "the City" or "the CBD", and gazetted simply as Melbourne) is the city centre of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. As of the 2021 census, the CBD had a population of 54,941, and is ...

, located within the Cities of

and

Port Phillip Port Phillip (Kulin languages, Kulin: ''Narm-Narm'') or Port Phillip Bay is a horsehead-shaped bay#Types, enclosed bay on the central coast of southern Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The bay opens into the Bass Strait via a short, ...

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 ...

s. Port Melbourne recorded a population of 17,633 at the 2021 census. The area to the north of the

West Gate Freeway The West Gate Freeway is a major freeway in Melbourne, the busiest urban freeway and the busiest road in Australia, carrying upwards of 200,000 vehicles per day. It links Geelong (via the Princes Freeway) and Melbourne's western suburbs to ...

is located within the City of Melbourne, with The area to the south located within the City of Port Phillip. The suburb is bordered by the shores of

Hobsons Bay Hobsons Bay is a small open bay in Victoria, Australia, and is the northernmost part of the larger Port Phillip Bay. Its western and eastern boundaries are marked by Point Gellibrand in and Point Ormond in respectively, and defines the coas ...

and the lower reaches of the

Yarra River The Yarra River or historically, the Yarra Yarra River, (Kulin languages: ''Berrern'', ''Birr-arrung'', ''Bay-ray-rung'', ''Birarang'', ''Birrarung'', and ''Wongete'') is a perennial river in south-central Victoria, Australia. The lower st ...

. Port Melbourne covers a large area, which includes the distinct localities of

Fishermans Bend Fishermans Bend (formerly Fishermen's Bend) is a precinct within the City of Port Phillip and the City of Melbourne. It is located on the south of the Yarra River in the suburb of Port Melbourne and opposite Coode Island, close to the Melbourne ...

, Garden City and

Beacon Cove Port Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of the Melbourne central business district, located within the Cities of City of Melbourne, Melbourne and City of Port Phillip, Port Phillip Local government ...

. Historically it was known as Sandridge and developed as the city's second port, linked to the nearby Melbourne CBD. The formerly industrial Port Melbourne has been subject to intense

urban renewal Urban renewal (sometimes called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address real or perceived urban decay. Urban renewal involves the clearing ...

over the past three decades. As a result, Port Melbourne is a diverse and historic area, featuring industrial and port areas along the Yarra, to open parklands, bayside beaches, exclusive apartments and Bay Street's restaurants and cafes. The suburb also forms a major transport link from east to west, home to one end of the

West Gate Bridge The West Gate Bridge is a steel, box girder, cable-stayed bridge in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, spanning the Yarra River just north of its mouth into Port Phillip. It carries the West Gate Freeway and is a vital link between the Melbourn ...

History

The most prominent early resident of the area now known as Port Melbourne was Captain Wilbraham Frederick Evelyn Liardet, who arrived in 1839 and established a hotel, jetty, and mail service. Liardet later stated that before his arrival the surveyor

William Wedge Darke William Wedge Darke (1810–1890) was an Australian colonist and surveyor, the son of John Darke of Hereford and Elizabeth Darke, née Wedge, and younger brother of John Charles Darke and a nephew of John Helder Wedge from whom he learnt his p ...

and his family had camped on the beach in their two roomed, carpeted wooden caravan known as 'Darke's Ark'. Liardet credited Wedge with cutting the first track to the beach through the tea tree scrub and hoisting a barrel on a pole, on a high section of ground, to point the way back to the Melbourne settlement. From this signpost its first official name, 'Sandridge', was said to have originated. The area also became commonly known as 'Liardet's Beach' but Liardet himself was said to have preferred 'Brighton'. It became Port Melbourne in 1884. The area came into prominence during the

Victorian gold rush The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia, approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. It led to a period of extreme prosperity for the Australian colony and an influx of population growth and financial capi ...

of the 1850s. With an increasing number of ships looking to berth, Sandridge became a thriving transport hub. To alleviate the high costs of shipping goods via small vessels up the Yarra River to Melbourne the

Port Melbourne railway line The Port Melbourne railway line is a former heavy rail line in Melbourne, Australia, opened in September 1854, that is now a light rail line. It was instigated by the Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company to carry passengers arriving in Vi ...

was built in 1854 to connect Sandridge to Melbourne. The disused Sandridge Bridge takes its name from this historic railway line. In 1860, Port Melbourne was an early area of Victoria to gain Municipal status with the Sandridge Borough, which later became the City of Port Melbourne. In the early years of Port Melbourne, the suburb was separated from neighbouring Albert Park by a large shallow lagoon. This was gradually filled in over the years, with the last of it completed in 1929. Today the area is largely covered by the eponymous Lagoon Reserve, a public park to the east of the Esplanade between Liardet Street and Graham Street, although the original extent of the lagoon was much greater. As a transport hub, Port Melbourne had numerous hotels. Early industries included a

sugar refining Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or do ...

, soap production, candle works, chemical works,

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

and

flour mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separat ...

gasworks A gasworks or gas house is an industrial plant for the production of flammable gas. Many of these have been made redundant in the developed world by the use of natural gas, though they are still used for storage space. Early gasworks Coal ...

, a

distillery Distillation, also classical distillation, is the process of separating the component substances of a liquid mixture of two or more chemically discrete substances; the separation process is realized by way of the selective boiling of the mixt ...

and a boot factory.

Station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

and Princes Piers were major places of arrival to Australia for immigrants prior to the availability of affordable

air travel Air travel is a form of travel in vehicles such as airplanes, jet aircraft, helicopters, hot air balloons, blimps, Glider (aircraft), gliders, Hang gliding, hang gliders, parachuting, parachutes, or anything else that can sustain flight.

. For many years Port Melbourne was a focus of Melbourne's criminal underworld, which operated

smuggling Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. More broadly, soc ...

syndicates on the docks. The old Ships Painters and Dockers Union was notorious for being controlled by gangsters. The Waterside Workers Federation, on the other hand, was a stronghold of the

Communist Party of Australia The Communist Party of Australia (CPA), known as the Australian Communist Party (ACP) from 1944 to 1951, was an Australian communist party founded in 1920. The party existed until roughly 1991, with its membership and influence having been ...

. With the amalgamation of the local Council into the City of Port Phillip in 1994, many of Port Melbourne's civic institutions were adaptively reused. As a result, the Port Melbourne Town Hall is now a

public library A public library is a library, most often a lending library, that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil servic ...

. As the importance of the Port has declined, and as manufacturing industries have moved out of the inner city area, Port Melbourne has increasingly become a residential suburb. The area where Port Melbourne originally developed, around

Station Pier Station Pier is a historic Australian pier on Port Phillip, in Port Melbourne, Victoria. Opened in 1854, the pier is Melbourne's primary passenger terminal, servicing interstate Ferry, ferries and cruise ships, and is listed on the Victorian He ...

and Princes Pier, has been redeveloped with a mixture of apartment complexes and

medium-density housing Medium-density housing is a term used within urban planning and academic literature to refer to a category of residential development that falls between detached suburban housing and large multi-story buildings. There is no singular definition of ...

, the best known of which is the

development.

Demographics

In the 2016 census, there were 16,175 people in Port Melbourne. 63.2% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were England 5.4%, New Zealand 2.6%, Greece 2.0%, United States of America 1.0% and Italy 1.0%. 72.3% of people spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Greek 4.8%, Italian 1.7%, Mandarin 1.3%, French 0.8% and Russian 0.8%. The most common responses for religion were No Religion 38.3% and Catholic 21.8%.

Transport

Road

Two major freeways run through Port Melbourne; the

, which runs east–west from the

and

CityLink CityLink is a network of tollways in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, linking the Tullamarine Freeway, Tullamarine, West Gate Freeway, West Gate and Monash Freeways and incorporating Bolte Bridge, Burnley Tunnel and other ...

, which runs north toward the Bolte Bridge. Other main roads include Bay Street, Williamstown Road, Lorimer Street (which runs along the

), Graham Street, Salmon Street, Ingles Street and Beach Street (which runs toward Beaconsfield Parade and St Kilda). Port Melbourne's roads are a mix of planning styles and as a result can be difficult to navigate. Port Melbourne is serviced by an extensive

bus network A bus network is a network topology in which Node (networking), nodes are directly connected to a common half-duplex link called a bus (computing), bus. A Host (network), host on a bus network is called a ''station''. In a bus network, every ...

operated by

CDC Melbourne CDC Melbourne is a bus operator in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It operates 55 bus routes under contract to Public Transport Victoria. It is one of the brands of CDC Victoria, which is in turn a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro Australia. As a ...

which connects it to Melbourne CBD and surrounding suburbs.

Rail

Port Melbourne is serviced by

Melbourne tram route 109 Melbourne tram route 109 is a tram route on the Melbourne tramway network serving the city of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. Operated by Yarra Trams, the route is coloured orange and extends from Box Hill to Port Melbourne over 19.3 kilom ...

, which has been run as a high patronage high frequency light rail service since the heavy rail line was converted to light rail in 1987. While there are several disused freight rail links, the light rail is the only used rail connection to Port Melbourne. There have been a number of proposals for tram and light rail extension in Port Melbourne. St Kilda-Port Melbourne link A five kilometre tram link between St Kilda and Port Melbourne along Beaconsfield Parade was first raised by the City of Port Phillip in 2005. The City of Port Phillip's 2007 feasibility study into the route found that the high density population could sustain around 200,000 annual commuter trips and that the link would be financially viable if tourists were charged $6 per one-way trip. To address residents concerns over possible loss of beachfront views, the Council investigated the possibility of a new high-tech line, involving wire-free operation. Critics argued that it would be duplicating the route 12 tram route, with the two routes running in parallel just 200 metres apart for about 2 kilometres along Beaconsfield Parade. However, a direct tram journey between St Kilda and Port Melbourne is not possible and currently requires a change of routes at Southbank, which is a 10-kilometre round trip.

Port

Today, Port Melbourne still serves as a

transport hub A transport hub is a place where passengers and cargo are exchanged between vehicles and/or between mode of transport, transport modes. Public transport hubs include train station, railway stations, metro station, rapid transit stations, bus ...

for

passenger A passenger is a person who travels in a vehicle, but does not bear any responsibility for the tasks required for that vehicle to arrive at its destination or otherwise operate the vehicle, and is not a steward. The vehicles may be bicycles, ...

and

cargo vessel A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usual ...

s. Many luxury liners,

naval vessel A naval ship (or naval vessel) is a military ship (or sometimes boat, depending on classification) that is used by a navy. Naval ships are differentiated from civilian ships by construction and purpose. Generally, naval ships are Damage control ...

s and

ferries A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus. ...

arrive at Station Pier. Cargo traffic takes place further west, near the mouth of the Yarra River, principally at Webb Dock.

Housing

Houses in Port Melbourne range from single-fronted Victorian timber worker's cottages to new apartments and housing developments. Port Melbourne has undergone a major demographic shift in the past twenty years, from one of the cheapest and poorest suburbs in the city to one of the most expensive and wealthiest. Many large apartment developments in Port Melbourne occupy large blocks of land, taking over large factories and warehouses, such as HM@S project in Beach Street, ID Apartments in Pickles and Rouse Streets, and Bayshore and Bayview Apartments in Bay Street. Each of these developments comprise multiple buildings, and many of the redevelopments have preserved the

heritage Heritage may refer to: History and society * A heritage asset A heritage asset is an item which has value because of its contribution to a nation's society, knowledge and/or culture. Such items are usually physical assets, but some countries also ...

buildings. The Port Melbourne population now combines significant numbers of wealthy people, with those who live in public housing and other "old Port" locales. The area has many residents whose families came from

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

in the 1940s and 1950s, as well as more recent arrivals from Africa and Asia.

Commerce

Bay Street is Port Melbourne's main and historic commercial area.

Toyota Australia Toyota Australia is an Australian subsidiary of the Japanese car manufacturer Toyota. It markets Toyota products and manages motorsport, advertising and business operations for Toyota in Australia. It is also responsible for Lexus vehicles in A ...

's Head Office is in Port Melbourne. The Maritime Union of Australia maintains a strong presence in the area.

Sport

Australian rules football

The

Port Melbourne Football Club The Port Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Borough, is an Australian rules football club based in the inner-Melbourne suburb of Port Melbourne. The club was founded in 1874 and has been competing in the Victorian Football League (VFL) – ...

, known as "the Borough" is one of Melbourne's oldest

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 ...

sides, and plays in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...

. The club's home games are played at

North Port Oval North Port Oval, also known as the Port Melbourne Cricket Ground or by the sponsored name ETU Stadium, is an Australian rules football and cricket stadium located in Port Melbourne, Australia. The capacity of the venue is 6,000 people. It is ...

. Another local team is the Port Melbourne Colts Football Club which plays in the

Southern Football Netball League The Southern Football Netball League (SFNL) is an Australian rules football league, based in the south and south eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, for both seniors and juniors. History The South East Suburban Football League was formed in ...

Cricket

The Port Melbourne Cricket Club founded in 1874, is one of the oldest sporting clubs in Australia, and one of the twelve founding

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

clubs of the Melbourne District Cricket competition. Known as "the Borough", the club's long and proud history includes 2 Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association Championship Titles and 29 Premierships (including 10 in the 1st Grade). The club fields 5 senior teams across a number of grades and 10 junior teams in under 12's, under 14's and under 16's, as well as T20 Blast and the Milo in2CRICKET Program. The five senior sides now play in the Southern Bayside

Cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

Competition administered by

Cricket Victoria Cricket Victoria (CV) is the governing body for the sport of cricket in the Australian state of Victoria. It is integrated with the Victorian Women's Cricket Association to include funding, programs, office accommodation and staff assistance. ...

and the club plays its home games at

Association football (soccer)

Port Melbourne is represented by the Port Melbourne Sharks, an

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 ...

team, which has produced names such as Daniel Allsopp and Rodrigo Vargas. The team currently competes in the

National Premier Leagues Victoria The National Premier Leagues Victoria (NPL Victoria or NPL VIC) is a semi-professional soccer league in Victoria, Australia. The league is a part of the National Premier Leagues, and is the highest level within the Victorian soccer league syst ...

(second- tier in Australia, behind the

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

). The Sharks play their home games at SS Anderson Reserve.

Baseball

The Port Melbourne “Mariners” Baseball Club established in 1929 plays in the Victoria Baseball Summer League, fielding six senior teams and four junior teams. Longstaff Field has been upgraded to include an artificial infield and competition-standard lighting, allowing the club to play night games.

Tennis

The Port Melbourne

Tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

Club was established in 1885 and is located in Morris Reserve, Swallow St, Port Melbourne.

Shooting sport

Th
Melbourne International Shooting Club
(MISC), formed in 1955 and moved to the present site in the late 1970s, is an ISSF-approved shooting complex for target pistol and small-bore rifle shooting disciplines and was the venue of choice for the

2005 Summer Deaflympics The 2005 Summer Deaflympics, officially known as the 20th Summer Deaflympics, is an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from 5 January to 16 January 2005 in Melbourne, Australia. Bidding process A bid for the games was held on 9 ...

and the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006, were an International sport, international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Melbourne ...

events Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of eve ...

, and is affiliated with several umbrella bodies including the Victorian Amateur Pistol Association (VAPA), Target Rifle Victoria (TRV) and

IPSC Australia IPSC Australia Inc is the Australian association for practical shooting under the International Practical Shooting Confederation. It consists of seven sections: Victoria (Australia), Victoria and Tasmania, South Australia, New South Wales, Austral ...

. The facility is located at

north of the

on Todd Road (the last exit east of the

before starting the

), west of the Westgate Park and between Gate 7 of the old

Holden Holden, formerly known as General Motors-Holden, was an Australian subsidiary company of General Motors. Founded in Adelaide, it was an automobile manufacturer, importer, and exporter that sold cars under its own marque in Australia. It was ...

plant and the Melbourne International Kart Raceway.

Kart racing

Th
Go Kart Club of Victoria
(GKCV), initially based at the western suburb of

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

and relocated to Fishermans Bend in 1995, is amongst the oldest of established

kart racing Kart racing or karting is a motorsport discipline using open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on kart circuit, scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on fu ...

clubs in Australia and is the oldest in Victoria. It operates the Melbourne International Kart Raceway, located at the corner of Todd Road and Cook Street north of the West Gate Freeway Today it is the largest

go-kart A go-kart, also written as go-cart (often referred to as simply a kart), is a type of small sports car, close wheeled car, open-wheel car or quadracycle. Go-karts come in all shapes and forms, from non-motorised models to high-performanc ...

club in Victoria and the second largest within Australia, having hosted rounds of the Australian Kart Championship and Rotax Pro Tour as well as the popular annual City of Melbourne Titles and Monthly Club Days, and once held the CIK/FIA Oceania Championships in 1997.

Trugo

There are two clubs for the indigenous casual game of

trugo Trugo, alternatively TruGo or True-Go, is an Australian sport where a rubber ring is struck with a mallet so that it passes between a set of posts. The game was developed in the western suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. The first trugo clubs were ...

in Melbourne: the Port Melbourne Trugo Club and the Sandridge Trugo Club.

Localities within Port Melbourne

Port Melbourne features three distinctive localities, with identities separated from the main section of the neighbourhood. Melbourne city skyline from the perspective of Port Melbourne

Melbourne city skyline from the perspective of Port Melbourne

Garden City

Garden City is a locality within Port Melbourne and the City of Port Phillip. It started in the 1920s as a planned "garden suburb", similar to those built in Britain a few years earlier during the

Garden City Movement The garden city movement was a 20th century urban planning movement promoting satellite communities surrounding the central city and separated with Green belt, greenbelts. These Garden Cities would contain proportionate areas of residences, i ...

. The early development was built as low-cost housing by the

State Bank In Australia and the United States, a state bank in a federated state is usually a financial institution that is chartered by the government of that state, as opposed to one regulated at the federal or national level. In British English, the ter ...

, with later additions of public housing by the

Housing Commission of Victoria The Housing Commission of Victoria (often shortened to Housing Commission, especially Colloquialism, colloquially) was a Government of Victoria body responsible for public housing in Victoria, Australia. It was established in 1938, and was aboli ...

. It comprises semi-attached single and double-storey houses arranged around a series of public open spaces, in a distorted Beaux-Arts layout. Contrary to popular belief, the "Bank Houses" were never public housing and have always been in private hands. The "Bank Houses" area later became known as "nobs hill", a reference to relative wealth of their occupants compared to the residents of the clinker brick public housing that was added later. The Housing Commission area was known as 'Little Baghdad'. The Garden City post office in Centre Avenue has been open since 1945. ()

Beacon Cove

Beacon Cove is a locality within Port Melbourne and the

City of Port Phillip The City of Port Phillip is a Local government areas of Victoria, local government area of Victoria, Australia on the northern shores of Port Phillip, south of Melbourne's central business district. It has an area of 20.7 km2 and had a pop ...

. It comprises approximately 1100 dwellings in a mixture of low-rise medium density and high-rise housing, with a small supermarket, some commercial space, a small number of

cafes A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually called ''nargile ...

and

restaurant A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and Delivery (commerce), food delivery services. Restaurants ...

s and a leisure complex including a gym, swimming pool and tennis courts. It was developed over the decade from 1996 by Australian developer Mirvac, following the collapse of the "Sandridge City" scheme for a

gated community A gated community (or walled community) is a form of residential community or housing estate containing strictly controlled entrances for pedestrians, bicycles, and automobiles, and often characterized by a closed perimeter of walls and fences ...

featuring canalside housing. The site was formerly an industrial facility. Beacon Cove features a waterfront promenade, palm-lined boulevards and a layout that allows the retention of two operational shipping beacons. Most of the low-rise housing is arranged around a series of small parks, in a postmodern scaled-down Beaux-Arts plan, similar in layout to nearby

St Vincent Gardens St Vincent Gardens in the Melbourne suburb of Albert Park, is an Australian park of national significance. It is an example of nineteenth century residential development around a large landscaped square. Development occurred as a result of a b ...

in Albert Park. Along the foreshore is a series of 11–14-storey high-rise apartment towers with a small amount of very upmarket low-rise housing at the western end, directly fronting Sandridge Beach. The layout re-routed Beach Street away from the foreshore and the apartments along the waterfront have direct access to the promenade. The development was completed in stages, working west from Princes Street, and this is reflected in the different styles of architecture. As of 2013 the owner of the leisure complex has proposed replacing it with a 19-storey apartment complex, and the

has instead proposed rezoning the site for mixed use with a 10-storey height limit. A number of community groups oppose both proposals.

Fishermans Bend

Fishermans Bend (formerly Fishermen's Bend) is a locality within Port Melbourne and the City of Melbourne. It is positioned immediately to the east of the West Gate Bridge, on the south bank of the Yarra River, adjacent to the suburb of Port Melbourne and opposite Coode Island, on the north shore of the Yarra River. Fishermans Bend originally included the area now known as Garden City, which was renamed in 1929. From the 1850s, the site was a location for Bay fishermen of European descent. Some thirty families lived on the Bend, frequently finding additional work in the docks and cargo ships;

ballast Ballast is dense material used as a weight to provide stability to a vehicle or structure. Ballast, other than cargo, may be placed in a vehicle, often a ship or the gondola of a balloon or airship, to provide stability. A compartment within ...

was loaded onto ships returning to Europe. Habitation was in rough shacks along the Bend, made from

corrugated iron Corrugated galvanised iron (CGI) or steel, colloquially corrugated iron (near universal), wriggly tin (taken from UK military slang), pailing (in Caribbean English), corrugated sheet metal (in North America), zinc (in Cyprus and Nigeria) or ...

, flattened

kerosene Kerosene, or paraffin, is a combustibility, combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in Aviation fuel, aviation as well as households. Its name derives from the Greek (''kērós'') meaning " ...

tins or wood. There were no

roads A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. The ...

, shops, or

sewerage Sewerage (or sewage system) is the infrastructure that conveys sewage or surface runoff ( stormwater, meltwater, rainwater) using sewers. It encompasses components such as receiving drains, manholes, pumping stations, storm overflows, and scr ...

. Water was collected from hanging out sail canvases, and stored in iron tanks or casks milk came from a nearby farm. Fishing continues on the Bay, but today only two fishing licences belong to descendants of these early pioneer settlers. The last remaining shack on the Bend was demolished in 1970, to make way for Webb Dock. The new Surf Life Saving Club headquarters stand on the site (Meiers 2006). The neighbourhood of Fishermans Bend also has a significant place in Australian aviation history, being the home of several prominent historical Australian aircraft design and manufacturing companies, including the

Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation The Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC) was an Australian aircraft manufacturer. The CAC was established in 1936, to provide Australia with the capability to produce military aircraft and engines. History In 1935 the Chief General Manage ...

Smorgon Steel Smorgon Steel was an Australian steel manufacturing company. It was the last remaining part of Smorgon Consolidated Industries, founded in 1958 by Victor Smorgon, member of the Smorgon family. In 1997, Smorgon purchased structural materials Wel ...

Government Aircraft Factories Government Aircraft Factories (GAF) was the name of an aircraft manufacturer owned by the Government of Australia. The primary factory was located at Fishermans Bend, a suburb of Melbourne in Victoria. It had its origins in the lead-up to Wor ...

, the Aeronautical Research Laboratory and regional facilities for

Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

. Fishermen's Bend Aerodrome remained in use until 1957. Fishermans Bend is a primary industrial centre at the foot of the West Gate Bridge and contains major establishments for the

Defence Science and Technology Organisation Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indust ...

, Holden, Hawker de Havilland, GKN Aerospace Engineering Services, the Cooperative Research Centre for Advanced Composite Structures,

Kraft Foods Kraft Foods Group, Inc. was an American food manufacturing and processing conglomerate (company), conglomerate, split from Kraft Foods Inc. on October 1, 2012, and was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It became part of Kraft Heinz on July ...

, port security and a campus of

RMIT University The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (abbreviated as RMIT University) is a public research university located in the city of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia., section 4(b) Established in 1887 by Francis Ormond, it is the seventh-o ...

. It also has a

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : "related to the sea") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo ...

, known as d'Albora Marinas Pier 35, and several container ship ports. Fishermans Bend has a single large reserve known as Westgate Park, a large artificial

wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

established in 1985.Friends of Westgate Park, Park History
/ref>

Notable people

Notable people who lived or worked in or represented Sandridge, later Port Melbourne; * James Boyd (1867–1941), businessman and politician * Charles Gordon Campbell (1840–1905), businessman and pastoralist * William Darke (1810–1890), surveyor and colonist * Gloria Dawn (1929–1978), actor * Frederick Derham (1844–1922), businessman and politician * William Howe (1864–1952), mayor and newspaperman * Elwyn King (1894–1941), pilot and engineer *

Wilbraham Liardet Wilbraham Frederick Evelyn Liardet (17 July 179921 March 1878), was an Australian hotelier, water-colour artist and historian, who was responsible for the early development of Port Melbourne. Early life and career Liardet was born on 17 July 179 ...

(1799–1879), hotelier and artist *

John Madden John Earl Madden (April 10, 1936 – December 28, 2021) was an American professional football coach and sports commentator in the National Football League (NFL). He served as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders from 1969 to 1978, leading them ...

(1844–1918), judge and politician * Jack Murray (1907–1983), racing driver *

Leslie Newman Leslie Newman (1938 – c. 2021) was a screenwriter who co-wrote the first three ''Superman (film series), Superman'' films with husband David Newman (screenwriter), David Newman, who died in 2003. She was born in 1939, in the United States. Th ...

, (1878–1938), entomologist * William Nicholson (1816–1865), businessman and politician * James O’Collins (1892–1983), bishop * William Reay (1858–1929), journalist and politician * Edward Russell (1867–1944), trade unionist * Hall Thorpe (1874–1947), artist * J. L. Treloar (1894–1952), public servant * Olive Zakharov, (1925–1995), politician

References

External links

The Australian National Aviation Museum
(archived)
The Port Melbourne Historical and Preservation SocietyMelbourne Port Phillip Council
(archived) {{Authority control Suburbs of Melbourne Suburbs of the City of Port Phillip Suburbs of the City of Melbourne (LGA) Port Phillip