VICPlanned settlement
Newtown
Geelong’s riverside workshop and hilltop borough.
1839Land sales begin west of Geelong
WHAT STARTED IT
Newtown and Chilwell grew on the rise west of Latrobe Terrace, where land sales began in 1839. Chilwell’s Barwon River frontage drew tanneries, wool scours and soap works, while the higher ground above suited churches, schools and merchants’ houses.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
Residents unhappy with Geelong council won their own borough in 1858, and woollen and flour mills later took up the high ground at Rocky Point. Private colleges gathered in Aphrasia Street, trams arrived in 1912, and the municipality became a city in 1949.
TURNING POINTS
1839Land sales begin in Newtown and Chilwell, west of Latrobe Terrace.
1856Merchant J. P. O’Brien has built the Gothic Revival house Barwon Grange beside the Barwon by this year.
1858Newtown and Chilwell becomes a separate municipal borough; council offices follow in Pakington Street in 1860.
1870Geelong College opens in Aphrasia Street under Dr George Morrison.
1990sNewtown city is united with Geelong and neighbouring councils in the new City of Greater Geelong.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
An established inner suburb of Greater Geelong with about 10,400 people in 2021 and the Pakington Street shops at its centre. Barwon Grange and other heritage houses recall the merchants who built above the river.