Grovedale 3216 Grovedale 3216

Grovedale is an outer suburb of Geelong, 6 km. south-south-west of the city centre. It is named after a property of about 76 ha. acquired by Alexander Pennell in 1847, just south of Waurn Ponds Creek.

Originally the place was named Germantown, which arose from several families of Lutheran German origin who arrived at Corio Bay in 1849. A Geelong pioneer, Dr. Alexander Thomson, encouraged them to settle on Pennell's land. A school was opened in 1854.

By the mid 1860s there were about 70 families of German origin settled there, and there were two hotels, two flour mills, two tanneries and four wool-washing establishments. The hilly country and volcanic soil were good for orchards and vineyards.

In September, 1915, after the outbreak of the first world war, the South Barwon Council changed the named to Grovedale.
Grovedale continued to be an agricultural district until the mid 1960s, when residential expansion from neighbouring Belmont began. In 1970 the estimated population was 1,200 persons, and in 1980, 5,000.

Grovedale's first civic amenities were first distributed along the road to Torquay, now Surf Coast Road. They included the cemetery, churches, recreation reserve, public hall, post office and hotel. Residential expansion was westwards, resulting in the Grovedale West primary school and secondary college and the Town and Country Shopping World on the border with Waurn Ponds. Opened in 1985 the shopping centre has a discount department store, two supermarkets and forty shops.

Grovedale is bordered on the north by the Waurn Ponds Creek linear park and on the south by the railway line to Colac. There are several neighbourhood parks and a local shopping centre (1975) near the Grovedale West schools.

Grovedale's median house price in 1987 was $78,000 and in 1996 it was $103,000. A German Cottage (1854) and a former Wesleyan church (1869) on Surf Coast Road are registered historic buildings.

The census populations of Grovedale were 117 (1861), 375 (1881), 228 (1921) and 293 (1947). Later estimates were 1,200 (1970), 5,000 (1980) and 13,000 (1993).

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