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Essendon

About Essendon, VIC

Essendon () is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 8 km (5.0 mi) north-west of Melbourne's central business district, located within the City of Moonee Valley local government area. Essendon recorded a population of 21,240 at the 2021 census.Essendon is bounded in the west by Hoffmans Road, in the north by Keilor Road and Woodland Street, in the east by the Moonee Ponds Creek, and in the south by Buckley Street (except for a small section further south bordering Moonee Ponds). == History == Essendon and the banks of the Maribyrnong River were originally inhabited by the Wurundjeri clan of the Woiwurrung speaking people of the Kulin nation. In 1803, Charles Grimes and James Fleming were the first known European explorers into the Maribyrnong area. Essendon was named after the village of Essendon in Hertfordshire, England. Richard Green, who arrived in Victoria in the 1850s and settled near Melbourne, was a native of Essendon, Hertfordshire, where his father Isaac Green was either owner or tenant of Essendon Mill, and he bestowed the name of his native village on the district in which he had made his new home.In 1851, the gold rush opened up the Moonee Ponds District with miners travelling along Mount Alexander Road to Castlemaine. Essendon Post Office opened on 18 August 1856.In 1862, 169 residents sought the formation of the Borough of Essendon and Flemington.On 9 January 1871, the Victorian Railways services began between Essendon and Melbourne, following an unsuccessful private railway operating from 1860 until 1864.In the 1880s, the local Council resisted industrial development in the form of cattle saleyards and brickworks, out of concern for pollution of the Maribyrnong River. Instead it embarked on a program to create, in its upper reaches, a playground for rowers, fishermen and swimmers.In 1890, a large mansion was built in the town. It was designed by eminent architect R.A. Lawson and built at a cost of £35,000. Originally known as Earlsbrae Hall, it was the home of Collier McCracken, a member of a local brewing family.