Garfield, Victoria
Encyclopedia
Garfield is a town in Gippsland
Gippsland
Gippsland is a large rural region in Victoria, Australia. It begins immediately east of the suburbs of Melbourne and stretches to the New South Wales border, lying between the Great Dividing Range to the north and Bass Strait to the south...

, Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, 69 km south-east from the Melbourne central business district. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Cardinia
Shire of Cardinia
Cardinia Shire is a Local Government Area in Victoria, Australia, located south-east of Melbourne between the Western Port bay and the Yarra Ranges on the outskirts of Melbourne...

. At the 2006 Census, Garfield had a population of 1401.

History

The area was originally called Cannibal Creek, but was renamed to Garfield in memory of the USA President James Garfield
James Garfield
James Abram Garfield served as the 20th President of the United States, after completing nine consecutive terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. Garfield's accomplishments as President included a controversial resurgence of Presidential authority above Senatorial courtesy in executive...

.

The Post Office opened as Cannibal Creek on 1 May 1886 and was renamed Garfield in 1887.

Garfield filmed

In the late 1980s
1980s
File:1980s decade montage.png|thumb|400px|From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in...

 the appearance of the town was transformed for the cameras to look like the 1960s
1960s
The 1960s was the decade that started on January 1, 1960, and ended on December 31, 1969. It was the seventh decade of the 20th century.The 1960s term also refers to an era more often called The Sixties, denoting the complex of inter-related cultural and political trends across the globe...

 in a television miniseries on aboriginal
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....

 boxer
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

, Lionel Rose
Lionel Rose
Lionel Edmund Rose MBE was an Australian bantamweight boxer, the first Indigenous Australian to win a world title.-Early life:...

, who was raised in the region in Jacksons Track, near Drouin
Drouin, Victoria
Drouin is a major service town, located in West Gippsland, east of Melbourne. Its local government area is the Shire of Baw Baw. The town is supposedly named after a Frenchman who invented a chlorination process for the extraction of ore or an Aboriginal word meaning "north wind". New estate...

. Some shop fronts were restored and the main street of the town was filled with old cars to recreate the era.

Garfield today

Since the beginnings as a railway and timber
Timber
Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...

 town, and later a dairy
Dairy
A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting of animal milk—mostly from cows or goats, but also from buffalo, sheep, horses or camels —for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on a dedicated dairy farm or section of a multi-purpose farm that is concerned...

 and potato
Potato
The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species...

 farming and orchard
Orchard
An orchard is an intentional planting of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit or nut-producing trees which are grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of large gardens, where they serve an aesthetic as well as a productive...

 area, Garfield has always been a close community, with almost everybody knowing everyone else, and in some cases four generations of family staying in the (mainly), farming area. Recent growth has seen a doubling of residential building and the (2006), upgrading of the railway line from Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

 to Traralgon with increases in frequency of services by upgraded modern trains, is an attraction to new residents. A new housing development currently nearing completion this year (2007), is for over-55s in a secure environment. Previously derelict
Derelict
Derelict or dereliction commonly refers to:* Abandonment of property, then referred to as a 'derelict'* Derelict , property which has been abandoned and deserted at sea by those who were in charge without any hope of recovering it...

 shop
Retailing
Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...

s on the main street are now reoccupied.

Garfield has a small primary school with approximately 190 student
Student
A student is a learner, or someone who attends an educational institution. In some nations, the English term is reserved for those who attend university, while a schoolchild under the age of eighteen is called a pupil in English...

s. There is a church at the top end of the schoolgrounds. Local businesses include a milk bar
Milk bar
Milk bar is a term in some parts of Australia for suburban local shops or general stores. They are known as tuck shops, delicatessens or delis in South Australia and Western Australia, and as corner stores in Queensland and New South Wales...

, a newsagency
Newsagency
Newsagency can mean:*News agency, an organization of journalists established to supply news reports to organizations in the news trade.*The Australian English term for a newsagent's shop or news stand....

, ANZ bank, pub
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...

, an gift shops, and a bed and breakfast
Bed and breakfast
A bed and breakfast is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast, but usually does not offer other meals. Since the 1980s, the meaning of the term has also extended to include accommodations that are also known as "self-catering" establishments...

.

The town has an Australian Rules football team playing in the Ellinbank and District Football League. Garfield has an attractive undulating golf course on Thirteen Mile Road run by the Garfield Golf Club. A modern community swimming pool
Swimming pool
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest is the Olympic-size swimming pool...

 operates in the summer months within the recreation
Recreation
Recreation is an activity of leisure, leisure being discretionary time. The "need to do something for recreation" is an essential element of human biology and psychology. Recreational activities are often done for enjoyment, amusement, or pleasure and are considered to be "fun"...

 precinct where there is also the lawn bowling club, netball
Netball
Netball is a ball sport played between two teams of seven players. Its development, derived from early versions of basketball, began in England in the 1890s. By 1960 international playing rules had been standardised for the game, and the International Federation of Netball and Women's Basketball ...

 and tennis court
Tennis court
A tennis court is where the game of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the center. The same surface can be used to play both doubles and singles.-Dimensions:...

s, skateboarding
Skateboarding
Skateboarding is an action sport which involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard.Skateboarding can be a recreational activity, an art form, a job, or a method of transportation. Skateboarding has been shaped and influenced by many skateboarders throughout the years. A 2002 report...

 site, along with the newly regenerated football oval beside which is the community hall and children's playground which local groups utilise for a variety of functions. Garfield's picture theatre, although long closed, is being restored for future multi-entertainment uses, and stands as a landmark
Landmark
This is a list of landmarks around the world.Landmarks may be split into two categories - natural phenomena and man-made features, like buildings, bridges, statues, public squares and so forth...

 in the town. A newsagency
Newsagency
Newsagency can mean:*News agency, an organization of journalists established to supply news reports to organizations in the news trade.*The Australian English term for a newsagent's shop or news stand....

 and a post office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...

 operating six days a week, a bakery
Bakery
A bakery is an establishment which produces and sells flour-based food baked in an oven such as bread, cakes, pastries and pies. Some retail bakeries are also cafés, serving coffee and tea to customers who wish to consume the baked goods on the premises.-See also:*Baker*Cake...

 outlet, a milkbar and take-away shop, a combined-churches charity shop, an Equestrian
Equestrianism
Equestrianism more often known as riding, horseback riding or horse riding refers to the skill of riding, driving, or vaulting with horses...

 outfitters, a pet shop, and "Chasing Rainbows" a Unique Gift shop and Ned Kelly memoribilia shop, an automotive garage, a chemist
Chemist
A chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms...

, butcher
Butcher
A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat or any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat, poultry, fish and shellfish for sale in retail or wholesale food establishments...

, and a full-time ANZ Bank branch operating out of the newsagency, a unisex
Unisex
Unisex stands for the meaning that either gender or sex will be able to, but can also be another term for gender-blindness.The term was coined in the 1962 and was used fairly informally...

 hairdresser
Hairdresser
Hairdresser is a term referring to anyone whose occupation is to cut or style hair in order to change or maintain a person's image. This is achieved using a combination of hair coloring, haircutting, and hair texturing techniques...

, plus the "Iona Hotel" (now known as the "Garfield Hotel") make up the occupants on the main street which runs parallel with the railway that dissects the town with the station at its centre. A local architectural engineering
Architectural engineering
Architectural engineering, also known as building engineering, is the application of engineering principles and technology to building design and construction...

 firm has been operational since the 1950s
1950s
The 1950s or The Fifties was the decade that began on January 1, 1950 and ended on December 31, 1959. The decade was the sixth decade of the 20th century...

. The farming land nearby has an influx of horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...

owners in recent years and the Pakenham Racecourse will soon begin construction on a $35 million racing complex in the area.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK