VICFarming
Heidelberg
Melbourne’s first farmland, then a painters’ valley.
1838First farm land sale in Port Phillip
WHAT STARTED IT
Port Phillip’s first sale of farm land took place in the Heidelberg district in 1838, beside the Yarra River flats, and a village was planned there. Landowners formed the Heidelberg Road Trust in 1841 to build the road to Melbourne, Port Phillip’s first local government body.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
Without a railway until 1888, Heidelberg stayed a rural backwater. Late that year Arthur Streeton set up a painters’ camp in an old house at nearby Eaglemont, where Charles Conder and Tom Roberts joined him early in 1889. Suburbs spread along the railway in the 20th century, and Heidelberg West housed athletes for the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.
TURNING POINTS
1838Port Phillip’s first farm land sale is held in the Heidelberg district.
1841Landowners form the Heidelberg Road Trust, Port Phillip’s first local government body.
1888The railway reaches Heidelberg in May, and late in the year Arthur Streeton sets up a painters’ camp at Eaglemont.
1934Heidelberg is proclaimed a city.
1956The Heidelberg West housing estate becomes the Olympic athletes’ village.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
A north-eastern Melbourne suburb in the City of Banyule, centred on the Austin Hospital and the Burgundy Street shops. The Yarra flats and the name of the Heidelberg School recall its rural past.