West Footscray, Victoria
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West Footscray or "Wefo" 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 ...
, 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 Maribyrnong The City of Maribyrnong () is a local government area within the metropolitan area of Melbourne, Australia. It comprises the inner western suburbs between 5 and 10 kilometres from Melbourne city centre. It was formed in 1994 from the merger of ...
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 ...
. West Footscray recorded a population of 11,729 at the .


History

Prior to European colonisation, the area of West Footscray was originally home to the
Wurundjeri The Wurundjeri people are an Aboriginal peoples, Aboriginal people of the Woiwurrung language, Woiwurrung language group, in the Kulin nation. They are the traditional owners of the Yarra River Valley, covering much of the present location of ...
Woi Wurrung and
Boonwurrung The Boonwurrung, also spelt Bunurong or Bun wurrung, are an Aboriginal people of the Kulin nation, who are the traditional owners of the land from the Werribee River to Wilsons Promontory in the Australian state of Victoria. Their territory ...
peoples of the
Kulin Nation The Kulin nation is an alliance of five Aboriginal nations in the south of Australia - up into the Great Dividing Range and the Loddon and Goulburn River valleys - which shares Culture and Language. History Before British colonisation, the ...
. Footscray proper was well-established as a settlement by the mid-19th century, centered around a punt across the
Maribyrnong River The Maribyrnong River is a perennial river of the Port Phillip catchment, located in the northwestern suburbs of Melbourne, in the Australian state of Victoria. Course The Maribyrnong River draws its headwaters from near Mount Macedon within ...
. Originally referred to as "Upper Footscray," allotments of land in what is now West Footscray began sale in the 1850s. Alexander Dove, a Scottish sea captain who would become the first chair of the Footscray municipal council, purchased a large allotment with an existing 13-room homestead and lived here until the 1890s, despite the surrounding allotment being subdivided in the 1880s, with the surrounding streets ( Soudan Street,
Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum is the capital city of Sudan as well as Khartoum State. With an estimated population of 7.1 million people, Greater Khartoum is the largest urban area in Sudan. Khartoum is located at the confluence of the White Nile – flo ...
Street and
Dongola Dongola (), also known as Urdu or New Dongola, is the capital of Northern State in Sudan, on the banks of the Nile. It should not be confused with Old Dongola, a now deserted medieval city located 80 km upstream on the opposite bank. Et ...
Street) named for the Australian participation in the British intervention in Sudan. Dove Street, slightly to the south, is named after him. Despite continued
land speculation In finance, speculation is the purchase of an asset (a commodity, goods, or real estate) with the hope that it will become more valuable in a brief amount of time. It can also refer to short sales in which the speculator hopes for a decline ...
throughout the 19th century, West Footscray (and neighbouring
Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, l ...
) was slow to develop, owing in part to transportation difficulties; a road connection to Melbourne through the
West Melbourne Swamp The West Melbourne Swamp also known as Batman's Swamp, was a large saltwater wetland located to the west of the city of Melbourne, Victoria. It was an important resource for Aboriginal people. Surveyor Charles Grimes observed the swamp when he ...
was not built until 1863, and while the railway line was built in 1859, trains did not stop in the area until the opening of
Tottenham railway station Tottenham railway station is a commuter railway station on the Sunbury line, which is part of the Melbourne railway network. It serves the western suburb of West Footscray, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Tottenham station is a ground-l ...
in 1891. In 1860, a traveller passing through by train observed ''"some half-dozen wooden houses standing in gardens surrounded by stone walls and hedges."'' In 1865, of the 163 residents and businesses in the broader Footscray municipality, just 12 listed addresses in Upper Footscray. As with many other suburbs of the
City of Maribyrnong The City of Maribyrnong () is a local government area within the metropolitan area of Melbourne, Australia. It comprises the inner western suburbs between 5 and 10 kilometres from Melbourne city centre. It was formed in 1994 from the merger of ...
and
City of Hobsons Bay The City of Hobsons Bay is a local government area in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It comprises the south-western suburbs between 6 and 20 km from the Melbourne city centre. It was founded on 22 June 1994 during the amalgamation of l ...
, West Footscray was rich in basalt, and quarries formed an important part of its 19th century industry, with the
Melbourne Punch ''Melbourne Punch'' (from 1900, simply titled ''Punch'') was an Australian illustrated magazine founded by Edgar Ray and Frederick Sinnett, and published from August 1855 to December 1925. The magazine was modelled closely on '' Punch'' of Lon ...
nicknaming the area "Stoneopolis." James Govan, whose heritage-listed
Georgian revival Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover, George I, George II, Ge ...
house still stands at the corner of Essex Street and Summerhill Street, was a major quarry operator who supplied
bluestone Bluestone is a cultural or commercial name for a number of natural dimension stone, dimension or building stone varieties, including: * basalt in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, and in New Zealand * diabase, dolerites in Tasmania, ...
for Melbourne landmarks such as the
Melbourne Town Hall Melbourne Town Hall, often referred to as simply Town Hall, is the administrative seat of the local municipality of the City of Melbourne and the primary offices of the Lord Mayor and city councillors of Melbourne. Located on the northeast co ...
and Goldsborough Mort Wool Store. Govan drowned in 1886 after falling in a flooded quarry hole on departure from the Albert Hotel. West Footscray Post Office opened in 1914. The area's first school, known as Tottenham State School but now called Footscray West Primary School, was established on Argyle Street in 1915. In 1934, Olympic medallist
Frank Beaurepaire Sir Francis Joseph Edmund Beaurepaire (13 May 1891 – 29 May 1956) was an Australian distance freestyle swimmer from the 1900s to the 1920s, who won three silver and three bronze medals, from the 1908 Summer Olympics in London to the ...
established the first factory of the Olympic Tyre Company on Cross Street alongside the railway line. Tyre manufacturing continued here until 2001; the building has now been converted to residential apartments. In 2018, a warehouse fire in the southern part of the suburb caused by illegally stored chemicals burned for 16 days. In recent years West Footscray, like other suburbs in Melbourne's inner-west, has experienced increasing gentrification.


Geography

West Footscray is effectively divided into two halves by the railway line and Sunshine Road. The northern half, between Braybrook and Footscray proper, is largely residential, while the southern half, between
Tottenham Tottenham (, , , ) is a district in north London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, ...
and Kingsville, is a mixture of residential, commercial and industrial zoning. Like all of Melbourne's western suburbs, West Footscray sits at the eastern edge of the Victorian Volcanic Plain grasslands, with the soil being rich in
basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...
and basaltic
clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...
.


Demographics

In the 2021 census, 61.2% of people living in West Footscray were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were Vietnam (6.1%), India (3.7%), England (2.2%), New Zealand (1.9%) and the Philippines (1.7%). The most common ancestries in West Footscray were English (25.9%), Australian (24.6%), Irish (11%), Scottish (8.3%) and Vietnamese (8.1%). As in neighbouring Footscray, this is a significant increase in
Anglo-Celtic Anglo-Celtic people are descended primarily from English and Irish, Scottish or Welsh people. The concept is mainly relevant outside of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, particularly in Australia; however, it is also used in Canada, the Un ...
ancestry on the previous 2016 census, reflecting the
gentrification Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a neighborhood changes through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents (the "gentry") and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has ...
of Melbourne's inner western suburbs. 62.2% of people in West Footscray only spoke English at home. The next most common languages spoken at home were Vietnamese (8.2%), Italian (1.8%), Cantonese (1.6%), Mandarin (1.5%) and Telugu (1.4%). The most common responses for religion in West Footscray were no religion (46.7%), Catholic (18.3%), not stated (7.1%), Buddhism (5.8%) and Islam (3.8%). The median age of a West Footscray resident was 35, three years younger than the Victorian median age of 38. 40.9% of residents had a university degree, higher than the total Victorian figure of 29.2%. The median household income was $1,989 per week, higher than the Victorian median of $1,759.


Culture

Barkly Village is a section of Barkly Street in West Footscray that hosts many local and ethnic
grocers The Worshipful Company of Grocers is one of the 111 livery companies of the City of London, ranking second in order of precedence. Established in 1345 for merchants engaged in the grocery trade, it is one of the Great Twelve City Livery Compani ...
, stores and shops. The area has a long history of
multiculturalism Multiculturalism is the coexistence of multiple cultures. The word is used in sociology, in political philosophy, and colloquially. In sociology and everyday usage, it is usually a synonym for ''Pluralism (political theory), ethnic'' or cultura ...
and includes many stores owned and operated by
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
n,
Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overseas Vietnamese, Vietnamese people living outside Vietna ...
,
Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...
,
Anglo Anglo is a prefix indicating a relation to, or descent from England, English culture, the English people or the English language, such as in the term ''Anglosphere''. It is often used alone, somewhat loosely, to refer to people of British d ...
, Thai and
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
Australians. There is a particularly large Indian grocery store
"Bharat Traders"
located here as well as independent supermarket Sims, at the end of the Barkly Village section of the street. Also along this strip is th
Melbourne Chinese Bible Church
Construction of the new West Footscray Community Centre has been completed. It incorporates a local library, replacing the former West Footscray Library on the same site. The site is a part of the Barkly Village strip. The inaugural Footscray West Writers Fest was held in 2025. The Footscray
YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...
is located on Barret Reserve, Essex Street. 10th Footscray Scout, open to all youth aged 6–26, share the reserve with the YMCA meeting in a their hall on Graham St. The 2nd Footscray Scout Group is located at Gaudion Reserve, Barkly Street. The group has a website and is open to youth aged 7 to 26 years. It is part of Kariwara District. Phat Quang Temple, a Vietnamese Buddhist temple, is located in the suburb.


Sport

Shorten Reserve on Essex Street is home of the Druids Cricket Club and the West Footscray Roosters, a local
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. Johnson Reserve on Essex Street is home to a local women's soccer team, Maribyrnong Swifts, with several games usually hosted on Sundays.


Education

There are three
kindergartens Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...
: * Kingsville Kindergarten (Located in the southern part of the suburb, but in an area many residents consider to be part of Kingsville or
Yarraville Yarraville is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, west of Melbourne's central business district, located within the City of Maribyrnong local government area. Yarraville recorded a population of 15,636 at the . Yarraville i ...
). * Scots' Kindergarten. * West Footscray Neighbourhood House. There are two
primary schools A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...
in the West Footscray area:
Footscray West Primary School

St John's Primary School
a Catholic school which is technically situated in Footscray, but in an area many residents consider to be a part of West Footscray, also a Catholic school. There is another Catholic School, Corpus Christi Catholic School located in the southern "Kingsville" part of the suburb. The Western Scout centre is a training centre for the adult volunteers of
Scouts Australia Scouts Australia is a trading name of The Scout Association of Australia, which is the largest scouting organisation in Australia, with over 50,000 Youth Program Participants, and is a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement. It ...
and one of six such sites in Melbourne. Their office in the new complex at 77 Ashley Street includes equipment donated by the Footscray Rotary Club.


Transport

The following
bus routes 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 in ...
that pass through West Footscray; *216 Caroline Springs
Brighton Beach Brighton Beach is a List of Brooklyn neighborhoods, neighborhood in the southern portion of the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn, within the greater Coney Island area along the Atlantic Ocean coastline. Brighton Beach ...
via Deer Park West,
Sunshine Sunlight is the portion of the electromagnetic radiation which is emitted by the Sun (i.e. solar radiation) and received by the Earth, in particular the visible light perceptible to the human eye as well as invisible infrared (typically per ...
, Footscray,
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 ...
,
St Kilda Road St Kilda Road is a street in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is part of the Melbourne central business district, locality of Melbourne which has the postcode of 3004, and along with Swanston Street forms a major spine of the city. St Kilda ...
,
Prahran Prahran ( , also colloquially or ), is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 5 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Stonnington local government area. Prahran recorded a population ...
(every day). Operated by
Kinetic Melbourne Kinetic Melbourne is a bus operator in Melbourne, Australia, operating a fleet of 602 buses on 45 bus routes, as well as seven SmartBus routes. It commenced operations on 31 January 2022, taking over all routes previously operated by Transdev Me ...
. *219 Sunshine Park –
Gardenvale Gardenvale is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Glen Eira local government area. Gardenvale recorded a population of 1,019 at the 2021 census. History P ...
via Sunshine, Footscray, Melbourne, St Kilda Road, Prahran (every day). Operated by Kinetic Melbourne. *220 Sunshine – Gardenvale via Footscray, Melbourne, St Kilda Road, Prahran (every day). Operated by Kinetic Melbourne. *411 Footscray – Laverton via Geelong Road, Altona Gate SC, Altona,
Altona Meadows Altona Meadows is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Hobsons Bay Local government areas of Victo ...
(every day). 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 ...
. *412 Footscray – Laverton via Geelong Road, Altona Gate SC, Altona, Altona Meadows (every day). Operated by CDC Melbourne. *414 Footscray –
Aircraft station An aircraft station (also aircraft radio station) is – according to ''Article 1.83'' of the International Telecommunication Union, International Telecommunication Union's (ITU) ITU Radio Regulations (RR)ITU Radio Regulations, Section IV. Radio S ...
via Geelong Road,
Laverton North Laverton North is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Wyndham local government area. Laverton North recorded a population of 119 at the 2021 census. Located ne ...
(Monday to Saturday). Operated by CDC Melbourne. West Footscray has two railway stations on the
Sunbury line The Sunbury line is a commuter railway line in the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Operated by Metro Trains Melbourne, it is the city's fifth longest metropolitan railway line at . The line runs from Flinders Street railway station, Fl ...
;
West Footscray West Footscray or "Wefo" is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Maribyrnong local government area. West Footscray recorded a population of 11,729 at ...
and
Tottenham Tottenham (, , , ) is a district in north London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, ...
. West Footscray was completely rebuilt and moved 200 metres west of the original station location as part of the
Regional Rail Link Regional Rail Link (RRL) is the name of a project to build a length of railway through the western suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria. The name is also colloquially used to refer to the rail alignment constructed as part of the project. The pro ...
, with the new station opening on 14 October 2013. As part of
Metro Tunnel The Metro Tunnel, formerly known as Melbourne Metro Rail (MMR), is an underground rapid transit project currently under construction in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It involves the construction of twin rail tunnels between South Kensington ...
works, a third platform was built on the Cross Street side of the station to allow services to terminate. Work commenced in 2018 and was completed in 2020.


Sport

The suburb has two
Australian Rules 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 ...
football clubs competing in the
Western Region Football League The Western Football Netball League (WFNL) is a semi-professional Australian rules football and netball league, based in the western suburbs of Melbourne. History The league was formed in 1931 as the Footscray District Football League (FDFL). ...
, West Footscray Football Club and North Footscray Football Club. The Druids Cricket Club is also based in West Footscray, playing at Shorten Reserve. The Footscray United Soccer Club plays at Hansen Reserve.


See also

*
City of Footscray The City of Footscray was a local government area about west of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The city covered an area of and existed from 1859 until 1994. Its civic centre, after which it was named, was Footscray. Hi ...
– West Footscray was previously within this former local government area. * 2018 West Footscray warehouse fire


References


External links


West Footscray Suburb Profile
{{City of Maribyrnong suburbs Suburbs of Melbourne Suburbs of the City of Maribyrnong