VICFarming
Highton
Vineyard hills that waited a century to become suburbs.
1830sJohn Highett takes up land above the Barwon
WHAT STARTED IT
Highton sits on the eastern edge of the Barrabool Hills, above a bend of the Barwon. Grazier John Highett arrived in 1836–37 and built his house on Montpellier hill, and the name is a shortening of Highett-town.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
Churches and a school opened near the Barrabool Road crossroads in the 1850s, and by the mid-1860s the district was subdivided, with vineyards, a hotel and about 300 people. A sudden storm in July 1926 wrecked both churches, and the area stayed rural until Geelong’s housing reached it in the mid-1950s.
TURNING POINTS
1830sGrazier John Highett builds Highton house on Montpellier hill, overlooking the Barwon.
1854An Anglican church and school open near Barrabool and Scenic roads.
1926A storm on 22 July razes two churches and a Sunday school and topples pines onto the state school.
1933The Glastonbury Children’s Home moves to Highton.
1950sHighton emerges as a residential suburb with a bus service and community facilities.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
One of Geelong’s larger suburbs, with about 20,700 people in 2021 and more land being developed to the north-west. The old Anglican and Uniting churches, the state school and the library still stand at the original civic centre.