Newport, Victoria
Encyclopedia
Newport is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, 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...

, 7 km south-west from Melbourne's central business district
Central business district
A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...

. Its Local Government Area is the City of Hobsons Bay
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....

. At the 2006 Census, Newport had a population of 11,244.

History

Williamstown Junction opened as a Telegraph Office around April 1862 and as a Post Office around May 1869. It was renamed in 1881.

The Newport Railway Workshops play a key role in the history of the suburb, formerly the main workshops of Victorian Railways
Victorian Railways
The Victorian Railways operated railways in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companies failed or defaulted, the Victorian Railways was established to take over their operations...

. The workshops are south of the Newport railway station
Newport railway station, Melbourne
Newport is a railway station in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, located in the suburb of Newport, at the junction of the Werribee and Williamstown railway lines...

.

Newport Lakes Park is a flooded quarry
Quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...

 surrounded by landscaped bushland and lawn, in the north of the suburb. Stone from the quarry, which operated from the early 1920s to 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...

, was used in various building projects around the area of Williamstown
Williamstown, Victoria
Williamstown is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 8 km south-west from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Hobsons Bay. At the 2006 Census, Williamstown had a population of 12,733....

.

Newport Power Station is another feature of the suburb, the smokestack of which remains one of the tallest towers in Melbourne at 183 metres.

Today

Like much of Melbourne's nearby suburbs, Newport hosts a varied community of people from various ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds. The 'Substation' Community Arts centre provides a hub for local live music performances, community events and the monthly art market. Major natural features of the suburb are the Newport Lakes, Greenwich Bay and the Sandy Point Conservation area. Fishing, bike-riding, kayaking and boating are popular local activities. The Newport Folk Festival, featuring folk musicians from the local area and abroad, also occurs each year in late June.

Victoria University
Victoria University, Australia
Victoria University is a multi-sector tertiary institution based in Melbourne, Australia with 10 campuses.VU offers qualifications in higher education, vocational education , and short courses...

 maintains a campus in Newport, which focuses on automotive, metal fabrication, building and electrical trades. The Newport campus hosts the Centre for Curriculum Innovation and Development.

Scouts Australia
Scouts Australia
Scouts Australia is an organisation for children and young adults from 6 to 26 years of age. Scouts Australia is part of the global Scouting movement and has been a national member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement since 1953...

 run the 2nd Newport Scout group from a historic wooden hall next door to the Newport RSL. The hall was finished in 1938 and was hand built by the Rover Crew.

The Newport Rams baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 club also calls the suburb home. The suburb also houses the Newport Gardens (was Hobsons Bay) Primary School, Newport lakes Primary School and Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School.

See also

  • City of Williamstown
    City of Williamstown
    The City of Williamstown was a Local Government Area located about southwest of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The city covered an area of , and existed from 1919 until 1994.-History:...

    - the former local government area of which Newport was a part.

External links


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