Spotswood, Victoria

Spotswood Melbourne, Victoria
Spotswood
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
Population	2,604 (2016 census)[1]
• Density	840/km2 (2,180/sq mi)
Postcode(s)	3015
Area	3.1 km2 (1.2 sq mi)
Location	9 km (6 mi) from Melbourne
LGA(s)	City of Hobsons Bay
State electorate(s)	Williamstown
Federal Division(s)	Gellibrand
Suburbs around Spotswood: Yarraville Yarraville Yarraville South Kingsville Spotswood Port Melbourne South Kingsville Newport Newport

Overview of the industrial area below the West Gate Bridge

Spotswood is an inner-western suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 9 km south-west of Melbourne's central business district. Its local government area is the City of Hobsons Bay. At the 2016 census, Spotswood had a population of 2,604.^[1]

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 John Stewart Spottiswoode (shortened Spotswood), one of the first farmers who owned much of the area in the 1840s.^[2]

History[]

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

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.

Film[]

Spotswood was the setting of the eponymous Australian film, Spotswood, made in 1990-1991, released in 1992, starring Anthony Hopkins, Toni Collette, Bruno Lawrence and 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.^{[citation needed]}

The suburb was the main location in the clay animation short-film Harvie Krumpet.

Transport[]

Spotswood railway station is on the Werribee/Williamstown railway lines.

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 Sub District Cricket Association.

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

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

References[]