Collingwood, Victoria
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Collingwood is an inner city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is in the Local Government Area of the City of Yarra.
Collingwood is one of the oldest suburbs in Melbourne and is bordered by Smith St, Alexandra Parade, Hoddle St. and Victoria Parade.
The Collingwood Railway Station is actually in neighbouring Abbotsford.
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History
Subdivision and sale of land in Collingwood began in 1838, and was mostly complete by the 1850s. Collingwood was declared a municipality separate from the City of Melbourne on 24 April 1855, the first to follow the state's major population centres of Melbourne and Geelong. Collingwood was proclaimed a town in 1873, and later a city in 1876.
Collingwood's early development was directly impacted by the boom in Melbourne's population and economy during the Victorian gold rush of the 1850s and 1860s. This resulted in the construction of a large number of small dwellings, as well as schools, shops and churches to support this new population. Around the same time, large industrial developments such as a flour mill and the Fosters brewery were being established.
Since the 1870s, Smith Street has been the dominant shopping strip, with its tram line established in 1887. Smith Street was also the site of a number of Melbourne's earliest large variety stores and department stores, including the first G.J. Coles store in 1912.
The suburb is notable for its historical buildings, with many 19th century dwellings, shops and factories still in use. From its early days large commercial buildings often coexisted with small dwellings occupied by working-class families, and that mixture of industry and community continues to the present time. For example, Oxford and Cambridge Streets are dominated by imposing red-brick factories and warehouses formerly occupied by the Foy and Gibson company, but also feature a number of stone, brick and timber dwellings that date back to the earliest days of the suburb.
Culture and Sport
The Collingwood Australian Rules Football Club has a long history (dating back to 1892 as an incorporated football club), though in recent years (despite the 1990 AFL premiership), many jokes are made about its inability to win big-occasion matches.
Gay Village
Collingwood is Melbourne's second largest Gay village, catering mostly to the bears, gay skinheads, leathermen and SM subcultures. While sizable, it does not generally compete with the trendy/youth scene of nearby South Yarra, though Collingwood venues do get a large number of visitors from that scene on Friday nights.
A string of Gay businesses and venues can be found from the Trade Bar, Club 80, The Gatehouse and The Peel (on and around Peel Street) to Wet on Wellington (Wellington Street), The Glasshouse and The Laird (Gipps Street), The Star Hotel, Dungeon Warehouse and Eagle Leather (Hoddle Street). There is also a significant Gay population residing in and around Collingwood itself.
See also
External links
Collingwood Historical Society (http://localhistory.ymrl.org.au/histsocs.htm)
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