VICFarming
Belmont (Vic.)
A river-crossing township on Geelong’s southern side.
1861Belmont township proclaimed south of the Barwon
WHAT STARTED IT
Belmont grew on the rising ground south of the Barwon, where Dr Alexander Thomson took up his Kardinia holding in 1836 above a riverside lagoon. A township was proclaimed in 1861, and the Princes Bridge of 1862 tied it to Geelong on the road to Colac.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
By 1865 it had three hotels, a flour mill, tanneries and fellmongeries, among orchards, vineyards, market gardens and limestone quarries. Trams arrived in 1927, and post-war suburban growth took the population from under 3,000 to an estimated 15,000 by 1980.
TURNING POINTS
1836Alexander Thomson chooses land at Kardinia, at the falls on the Barwon.
1861Belmont township is proclaimed south of the river.
1862The Princes Bridge opens, linking the Colac road to Geelong.
1926A storm on 22 July wrecks houses in Belmont, Highton and Marshall; nearly 50 buildings are destroyed or damaged.
1950sNew primary and high schools open as Geelong’s suburbs reach Belmont.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
A suburb of about 15,100 people in 2021, centred on High Street (the Princes Highway). The Belmont Common, once the lagoon below Kardinia, holds ovals, a golf course and a wildlife reserve.