Glenelg, South Australia
Encyclopedia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
n capital of Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
. Located on the shore of Holdfast Bay
Holdfast Bay
Holdfast Bay is a small bay in Gulf St Vincent, next to Adelaide, South Australia. Along its shores lie the City of Holdfast Bay and the popular beach-side suburb of Glenelg.-European settlement:...
in Gulf St Vincent, it has become a popular tourist destination due to its beach and many attractions, home to several hotels and dozens of restaurants.
Established in 1836, it is the oldest European settlement on mainland South Australia (the oldest being Kingscote
Kingscote, South Australia
- Facilities :Kingscote has a school offering years 1 to 12, a hospital, supermarket, post office and Government offices. It is the administrative centre for the Kangaroo Island Council, whose offices have recently undergone a significant upgrade....
on Kangaroo Island
Kangaroo Island
Kangaroo Island is Australia's third-largest island after Tasmania and Melville Island. It is southwest of Adelaide at the entrance of Gulf St Vincent. Its closest point to the mainland is off Cape Jervis, on the tip of the Fleurieu Peninsula in the state of South Australia. The island is long...
), with the proclamation of the colony of South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
. It was named after Lord Glenelg
Charles Grant, 1st Baron Glenelg
Charles Grant, 1st Baron Glenelg PC FRS was a Scottish politician and colonial administrator.-Background and education:...
, a member of British Cabinet
Cabinet of the United Kingdom
The Cabinet of the United Kingdom is the collective decision-making body of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom, composed of the Prime Minister and some 22 Cabinet Ministers, the most senior of the government ministers....
and Secretary of State for War and the Colonies
Secretary of State for War and the Colonies
The Secretary of State for War and the Colonies was a British cabinet level position responsible for the army and the British colonies . The Department was created in 1801...
.
Through Lord Glenelg the name derives from Glenelg, Highland (previously Inverness-shire
Inverness-shire
The County of Inverness or Inverness-shire was a general purpose county of Scotland, with the burgh of Inverness as the county town, until 1975, when, under the Local Government Act 1973, the county area was divided between the two-tier Highland region and the unitary Western Isles. The Highland...
), Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. In Scottish Gaelic the name is . The name Glenelg is noteworthy for being a palindrome
Palindrome
A palindrome is a word, phrase, number, or other sequence of units that can be read the same way in either direction, with general allowances for adjustments to punctuation and word dividers....
.
History
Prior to the 1836 European settlement of South Australia, Glenelg and the rest of the Adelaide PlainsAdelaide Plains
The Adelaide Plains is the area in South Australia between the Mount Lofty Ranges on the east and Gulf St Vincent on the west. The plains are generally fertile with annual rainfall of about per year....
was home to the Kaurna group of Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
. They knew the area as "Pattawilya" and the local river as "Pattawilyangga", now named the Patawalonga River
Patawalonga River
The Patawalonga River is a short river that was, before European settlement, a tidal estuary...
. Evidence has shown that at least two smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
epidemics had killed the majority of the Kaurna population prior to 1836. The disease appeared to have come down the River Murray from New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
.
Settlement
The first British settlers set sail for South Australia in 1836. Several locations for the settlement were considered, such as Kangaroo IslandKangaroo Island
Kangaroo Island is Australia's third-largest island after Tasmania and Melville Island. It is southwest of Adelaide at the entrance of Gulf St Vincent. Its closest point to the mainland is off Cape Jervis, on the tip of the Fleurieu Peninsula in the state of South Australia. The island is long...
, Port Lincoln and Encounter Bay
Encounter Bay
Encounter Bay is located on the south central coast of South Australia, some 100 km south of Adelaide, South Australia. It is named after the encounter on 8 April 1802 between Matthew Flinders and Nicolas Baudin, both of whom were charting the Australian coastline for their respective countries...
. The Adelaide plains were chosen by Colonel William Light
William Light
Colonel William Light was a British military officer and the first Surveyor-General of the Colony of South Australia...
, and Governor John Hindmarsh
John Hindmarsh
Rear-Admiral Sir John Hindmarsh KH RN was a naval officer and the first Governor of South Australia, from 28 December 1836 to 16 July 1838.-Early life:...
proclaimed the province of South Australia at the site of The Old Gum Tree
The Old Gum Tree
The Old Gum Tree is an historic site in Glenelg North, Australia. On 28 December 1836, the British governor John Hindmarsh delivered the proclamation creating the colony of South Australia. A ceremony is held on each year on Proclamation Day, with the current Governor reading out Hindmarsh's...
in Glenelg North
Glenelg North, South Australia
Glenelg North is a seaside suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is located in both the City of Holdfast Bay and the City of West Torrens.-Demographics:...
on 28 December 1836.
The first post office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
in Glenelg opened on 5 December 1849; the first postmaster was John McDonald of the St Leonard's Inn. A telegraph office
Electrical telegraph
An electrical telegraph is a telegraph that uses electrical signals, usually conveyed via telecommunication lines or radio. The electromagnetic telegraph is a device for human-to-human transmission of coded text messages....
was opened in September 1859 and the two offices amalgamated in 1868. The present post office building on Moseley Square
Moseley Square, Glenelg
Moseley Square is a public square in the City of Holdfast Bay at Glenelg. It was named after an early councillor who promoted the building of a railway line to Glenelg...
was built in 1912.
Construction of the Glenelg Institute, which is now the Glenelg Town Hall (pictured top right), started in 1875. The institute opened in 1877, with lecture rooms, a concert hall and a library. The classical structure was designed by Edmund Wright
Edmund Wright
Edmund Wright can refer to:*Edmund William Wright , architect and Mayor of Adelaide*Sir Edmund Wright , Lord Mayor of London...
, whose works include the Adelaide Town Hall and Adelaide General Post Office
General Post Office
General Post Office is the name of the British postal system from 1660 until 1969.General Post Office may also refer to:* General Post Office, Perth* General Post Office, Sydney* General Post Office, Melbourne* General Post Office, Brisbane...
on King William Street
King William Street, Adelaide
King William Street is the part of a major arterial road that traverses the CBD and centre of Adelaide . It was named by the Street Naming Committee on 23 May 1837 after King William IV, the then reigning monarch, who died within a month...
. The hall sits on Moseley Square, just off the beach. The city council acquired the hall in 1887. Today it houses restaurants and two museums, the Bay Discovery Centre and the Rodney Fox Shark Experience.
Jetty
In August 1857, construction of Glenelg's first jetty commenced; it was opened on 25 April 1859. Costing over £31,000 (pounds sterling)Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
to build, the structure was 381 metres (1,250 ft) long. The jetty was used not only by fishermen but also to accept cargo from ships, including a mail service operated by P&O
Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company
The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, which is usually known as P&O, is a British shipping and logistics company which dated from the early 19th century. Following its sale in March 2006 to Dubai Ports World for £3.9 billion, it became a subsidiary of DP World; however, the P&O...
, until Port Adelaide
Port Adelaide
Port Adelaide is a suburb of Adelaide lying about 14 kilometres northwest of the City of Adelaide. It lies within the City of Port Adelaide Enfield and is the main port for the city of Adelaide...
replaced it as Adelaide's main port.
There were several additions to the jetty. A lighthouse
Lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....
was built in 1872 at the jetty's end, but a year later it caught fire and was cast into the sea to save the rest of the structure. A replacement lighthouse was built in 1874, and was 12.1 metres (40 ft) tall. Other additions include public baths
Public bathing
Public baths originated from a communal need for cleanliness. The term public may confuse some people, as some types of public baths are restricted depending on membership, gender, religious affiliation, or other reasons. As societies have changed, public baths have been replaced as private bathing...
, an aquarium
Aquarium
An aquarium is a vivarium consisting of at least one transparent side in which water-dwelling plants or animals are kept. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, marine mammals, turtles, and aquatic plants...
, a police shed and a three-story kiosk
Kiosk
Kiosk is a small, separated garden pavilion open on some or all sides. Kiosks were common in Persia, India, Pakistan, and in the Ottoman Empire from the 13th century onward...
with tea rooms. The kiosk structure also housed a family.
The kiosk was wrecked in a storm in 1943, and the entire jetty was destroyed by a freak hurricane in 1948, most of the structure washed away and the rest unsafe. Just two weeks later, local council began drafting plans for a new jetty and construction was completed in 1969. The new structure was just 215 metres (705 ft) long, less than two-thirds of the original jetty. The second jetty continues to stand today, at the end of Jetty Road
Jetty Road, Glenelg
Jetty Road in Glenelg is a major tourism and retail precinct in South Australia. Starting from Brighton Road, it is almost 1 kilometre long. At its western end is Moseley Square and the popular Glenelg beachfront....
.
Amusement parks
Glenelg has been a popular spot for recreation and leisure for much of its history. Following the success of Luna Park, MelbourneLuna Park, Melbourne
For other amusement parks of the same name, see Luna Park; for other uses of the phrase, see Luna Park Melbourne's Luna Park is a historic amusement park located on the foreshore of Port Phillip Bay in St Kilda, Victoria, an inner suburb of Melbourne, Australia...
, a similar amusement park was constructed on Glenelg's foreshore in 1930. Luna Park Glenelg was placed in voluntary liquidation in 1934, and all the rides (excluding a single carousel
Carousel
A carousel , or merry-go-round, is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating circular platform with seats for riders...
) were disassembled, purchased by the directors, and transported to Sydney, where they were used to create Luna Park Milsons Point
Luna Park Sydney
Luna Park Sydney is an amusement park, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
. The park's managers claimed that the reasons for the closure were the inability to make money from the park as it was, and opposition to changes from Council and residents, who were afraid that "undesirables" would be attracted to the area.
Magic Mountain, Glenelg
Magic Mountain was a theme park in Glenelg, a beachside suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It opened in December 1982 and closed on 18 July 2004....
, which first opened in 1982. It featured water slides, mini-golf, bumper boats, dodgem cars and many other amusements and was popular with many Adelaide residents. It was also extensively criticised, called an eyesore and likened to a [redacted] in the media; despite this it was heavily popular with young children and teenagers.
As part of the Holdfast Shores development, Magic Mountain was finally demolished in 2004 and replaced with The Beachouse
The Beachouse
The Beachouse is an amusement arcade located in the seaside resort of Glenelg in Adelaide, South Australia. It was built and designed by land owners the Rimington Group as a replacement to the former Magic Mountain, which was demolished in 2004...
, a modern centre with a more conservative design which still incorporates the historic carousel; it opened in mid 2006. A 25-metre single-arm Ferris wheel
Ferris wheel
A Ferris wheel is a nonbuilding structure consisting of a rotating upright wheel with passenger cars attached to the rim in such a way that as the wheel turns, the cars are kept upright, usually by gravity.Some of the largest and most modern Ferris wheels have cars mounted on...
is a popular amusement during school holidays and is a prominent feature of the area.
High-rise development
Atlantic Tower was built in Glenelg in the late 1970s and was Adelaide's tallest residential building at the time. The fourteen-story tower featured a revolving restaurant on its top floor, and was part of a larger development plan that never eventuated. Many other high-rise buildings exist in Glenelg, including the fifteen-story Stamford Grand hotel on Moseley SquareMoseley Square, Glenelg
Moseley Square is a public square in the City of Holdfast Bay at Glenelg. It was named after an early councillor who promoted the building of a railway line to Glenelg...
, built in 1990, and the twelve-story Liberty Towers, built in 2004.
The recent Holdfast Shores development, starting in the late 1990s, included the construction of the Marina Pier apartment building with its own private marina in Glenelg North
Glenelg North, South Australia
Glenelg North is a seaside suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is located in both the City of Holdfast Bay and the City of West Torrens.-Demographics:...
and the Pier Hotel. The development was met with strong opposition, from both local residents and the City of Holdfast Bay, fearing over-development would ruin the area. Parts of the plan were scaled back, with the Platinum Apartment building scaled down from fifteen stories to nine, and the cinema complex cancelled.
Glenelg was the site of the Beaumont children disappearance
Beaumont children disappearance
Jane Nartare Beaumont , Arnna Kathleen Beaumont , and Grant Ellis Beaumont were three siblings collectively known as The Beaumont Children who disappeared from Glenelg Beach near Adelaide, South Australia on Australia Day 1966.Their case resulted in one of the largest police investigations in...
in 1966.
Demographics
The 2001 Census by the Australian Bureau of StatisticsAustralian Bureau of Statistics
The Australian Bureau of Statistics is Australia's national statistical agency. It was created as the Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics on 8 December 1905, when the Census and Statistics Act 1905 was given Royal assent. It had its beginnings in section 51 of the Constitution of Australia...
counted 2,865 persons in Glenelg on the census night, of which 48.7% were female and 51.3% were male. The majority of residents are of Northern European descent, and almost two-thirds of residents are at least second generation Australian. Glenelg is a predominantly Christian community, with common affiliations, in descending order, Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
, Anglican, no religion and Uniting
Uniting Church in Australia
The Uniting Church in Australia was formed on 22 June 1977 when many congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, the Presbyterian Church of Australia and the Congregational Union of Australia came together under the Basis of Union....
.
The age distribution of Glenelg residents is skewed upwards more so than that of the Australian population. 26.4% of persons were 65 years or older in 2001, compared to the Australian average of 12.6%. 20.4% of persons were younger than 25 years, compared to the Australian average of 34.5%.
Transport
Central business district
A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...
, to the north, Brighton Road to the west and Pier Street to the south. Jetty Road
Jetty Road, Glenelg
Jetty Road in Glenelg is a major tourism and retail precinct in South Australia. Starting from Brighton Road, it is almost 1 kilometre long. At its western end is Moseley Square and the popular Glenelg beachfront....
is the main shopping strip in the suburb, and runs down the middle. The Adelaide Metro
Adelaide Metro
Adelaide Metro is the public transport system of the South Australian capital of Adelaide and the brand name of the Public Transport Division of the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure. It is an intermodal system with services provided by bus, tram or commuter rail throughout the...
operates several bus services from Glenelg to various destinations including the City of Adelaide and Adelaide Airport. The local council operates a free loop bus service in the area.
The only tram
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
line still operating in Adelaide
Trams in Adelaide
Until 1958, Trams in Adelaide formed a network spanning most of suburban Adelaide, with a history dating back to 1878. Adelaide ran horse trams from 1878 to 1914 and electric trams from 1909, but has primarily relied on buses for public transport since 1958...
is the Glenelg Tram
Glenelg Tram
The Glenelg Tram is a route from the centre of Adelaide, South Australia to the beach-side suburb of Glenelg. It is Adelaide's only remaining tramway, running at approximately 15-minute intervals, and is part of the integrated Adelaide Metro public transport network...
, which runs from Moseley Square
Moseley Square, Glenelg
Moseley Square is a public square in the City of Holdfast Bay at Glenelg. It was named after an early councillor who promoted the building of a railway line to Glenelg...
, along Jetty Road though Glenelg, to the Adelaide CBD. The route dates back to 1873 and is still operated on weekends and holidays by the historic H-Class trams, circa 1929. Weekday service was taken over by modern Bombardier
Bombardier Transportation
Bombardier Transportation is the rail equipment division of the Canadian firm, Bombardier Inc. Bombardier Transportation is one of the world's largest companies in the rail-equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. Its headquarters are in Berlin, Germany....
Flexity Classic
Flexity Classic
The Flexity Classic is a model of light-rail tram manufactured by Bombardier. Although it is marketed as the most traditionally-designed member of the Flexity family, it is nevertheless a modern bi-directional articulated tram with a low-floor section allowing improved accessibility, especially to...
trams in 2006.
Recreational boating is popular in Glenelg. To the north is the mouth of the Patawalonga River
Patawalonga River
The Patawalonga River is a short river that was, before European settlement, a tidal estuary...
, which has been dammed to create an artificial boat harbour with a lock
Lock (water transport)
A lock is a device for raising and lowering boats between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water level can be varied; whereas in a caisson lock, a boat lift, or on a canal inclined plane, it is...
down to the sea.
Events and attractions
- Jetty Road is a long ribbon of shops, entertainment facilities and other commercial activities - it is the main shopping precinct in Glenelg.
- Glenelg is the finishing point of the annual City-Bay fun run held in September. The run is 12 km long.
- Glenelg is home to the award winning Glenelg Beach Hostel.
- Glenelg is home to a team in the South Australian National Football LeagueSouth Australian National Football LeagueThe South Australian National Football League is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the governing body for the sport of Australian rules football in South Australia....
(SANFL), the Glenelg Tigers. - Glenelg is home to the Glenelg SeahorsesGlenelg Cricket ClubGlenelg Cricket Club are a Grade Cricket team located in Adelaide, South Australia.Their official website is http://www.gdcc.net.au...
in the South Australian Grade Cricket LeagueSouth Australian Grade Cricket LeagueSouth Australian Grade Cricket is the semi-professional State league based in metropolitan Adelaide, South Australia. It is currently the highest level of cricket played in South Australia outside first class cricket...
. - Glenelg is the home of the Bay Discovery Centre, a free museum about Glenelg's history.
- The annual Bay Sheffield race is held at Glenelg in December.
- The annual celebration of the EpiphanyEpiphany (Christian)Epiphany, or Theophany, meaning "vision of God",...
for the OrthodoxEastern Orthodox ChurchThe Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
faithful of AdelaideAdelaideAdelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
, accompanied by the GreekGreek AustralianGreeks are the seventh-largest ethnic group in Australia, after those declaring their ancestry simply as "Australian". In the 2006 census, 365,147 persons declared having Greek ancestry, either alone or in conjunction with another ethnicity....
festival of the Theophany.
Note
- The shark museum owned and operated by conservationist and shark attack survivor Rodney Fox has moved to Victor Harbor.
Politics
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Since 1985 Glenelg is located in the Electoral district of Morphett
Electoral district of Morphett
Morphett is an electoral district of the House of Assembly in the state of South Australia.Created in 1976 following an electoral redistribution, the seat of Morphett was named after Sir John Morphett who lived in the Morphettville area and was speaker of the enlarged Legislative Council in 1851...
for the South Australian House of Assembly
South Australian House of Assembly
The House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. The other is the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide.- Overview :...
, but was previously in a seat also named Glenelg. The current sitting member is Duncan McFetridge
Duncan McFetridge
Duncan McFetridge is an Australian politician representing the seat of Morphett in the South Australian House of Assembly for the Liberal Party since the 2002 election. He was re-elected at the 2006 and 2010 elections....
of the Liberal Party of Australia
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
, who has held the seat since 2002. In the 2006 state election, the seat was second least anti-Liberal swing, with only 5.0% of the two-party preferred votes lost to the Australian Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
. Federally, Glenelg is in the Division of Hindmarsh
Division of Hindmarsh
The Division of Hindmarsh is an Australian Electoral Division in South Australia covering the western gulfside suburbs of Adelaide.The division was created in 1903 and is named for Sir John Hindmarsh, who was Governor of South Australia 1836-38. For many years it was one of the safest Labor seats...
and is held by Steve Georganas
Steve Georganas
Steven "Steve" Georganas , Australian politician, is the Australian Labor Party representative for the House of Representatives seat of Hindmarsh in South Australia since the 2004 federal election....
of the Australian Labor Party, who won it from the Liberals in the 2004 election by a margin of just 0.1%. Key issues for the area included urban development and the maintenance of heritage, aged care and health.