Spotswood Melbourne, Victoria
Population:	2234 (2006)[1]
Postcode:	3015
Area:	3.1 km² (1.2 sq mi)
Property Value:	AUD $500,000 [2]
Location:	7 km (4 mi) from Melbourne
LGA:	City of Hobsons Bay
State District:	Williamstown
Federal Division:	Gellibrand
Suburbs around Spotswood: Yarraville Yarraville Yarraville South Kingsville Spotswood Port Melbourne South Kingsville Newport Newport

Spotswood is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 7 km south-west from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Hobsons Bay. At the 2006 Census, Spotswood had a population of 2234.

The suburb is bounded generally by the Geelong railway line in the west, the West Gate Freeway in the north, the Yarra River in the east and by the boundaries of the properties below Burleigh Street in the south.

Spotswood was named after J.S. Spottiswoode (shortened Spotswood), one of the first farmers who owned much of the area in the 1840s.

[edit] History

Spottiswoode Post Office opened on 1 February 1882 and was renamed Spottiswood around 1903 and Spotswood around 1906. ^[3]

[edit] Locality

Spotswood is known for the Victorian Science Museum, known as Scienceworks. Scienceworks is near the old sewage pumping station of Spotswood, constructed in 1897. This location was also used as the police headquarters in Mad Max and for the Academy award winning short film Harvie Krumpet. The suburb is served by the Spotswood railway station.

[edit] Film

Spotswood was the setting of the eponymous Australian film, Spotswood, made in 1990-1991, released in 1992, starring Anthony Hopkins, Toni Collette, and Bruno Lawrence. Russell Crowe, as a minor character. Most of the scenes in Spotswood were shot in the suburb, but the Moccasin factory is fictional and doesn't exist in Spotswood; the factory scenes in the movie were shot in the old sewage pumping station. Moccasins are a derogatory stereotype for the western suburbs of Melbourne; implying a lack of class, culture and sophistication even though they are commonly used elsewhere in Australia.

[edit] Sport

The suburb has an Australian Rules football team competing in the Western Region Football League.^[4] The Spotswood Cricket Club also plays at McLean Reserve and competes in the Victorian Turf Cricket Association.

Golfers play at the course of the Westgate Golf Club on Creek Street.^[5]

[edit] See also

• City of Footscray - the former local government area of which Spotswood was a part.
• City of Williamstown - the former local government area of which Spotswood was a part.

[edit] References

Overview of the industrial area below the West Gate Bridge

[edit] External links

• Spotswood, Victoria is at coordinates 37°49′52″S 144°53′13″E / 37.831°S 144.887°E / -37.831; 144.887Coordinates: 37°49′52″S 144°53′13″E / 37.831°S 144.887°E / -37.831; 144.887

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