Everything about Glenelg South Australia totally explained
Glenelg is a popular beach-side suburb of the
South Australian capital of
Adelaide. Located on the shore of
Holdfast Bay in
Gulf Saint 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's the oldest European settlement on mainland South Australia (the oldest being
Kingscote on
Kangaroo Island), with the
proclamation of the colony of
South Australia. It was named after
Lord Glenelg, a member of
British Cabinet and
Secretary of State for War and the Colonies.
Through Lord Glenelg the name derives from
Glenelg, Highland (but previously
Inverness-shire), which in the
Gaelic is
Gleann Eilg. Glenelg is noteworthy for being a
palindrome.
History
» See Also: History of Adelaide
See Also: Prehistory of Australia
Prior to the 1836
European settlement of South Australia, Glenelg and the rest of the
Adelaide Plains was home to the
Kaurna group of
Indigenous Australians. They knew the area as "Pattawilya" and the local river as "Pattawilyangga", now named the
Patawalonga River. Evidence has shown that at least two
smallpox 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.
Settlement
» See also: European settlement of South Australia
The first British settlers set sail for South Australia in
1836. Several locations for the settlement were considered, such as
Kangaroo Island,
Port Lincoln and
Encounter Bay. The Adelaide plains were chosen by Colonel
William Light, and Governor
John Hindmarsh proclaimed the province of South Australia at the site of
The Old Gum Tree in
Glenelg North on
December 28,
1836.
The first
post office in Glenelg opened on 5 December 1849; the first postmaster was John McDonald of the St Leonard's Inn. A
telegraph office was opened in September 1859 and the two offices amalgamated in 1868. The present post office building on
Moseley Square 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, whose works include the Adelaide Town Hall and Adelaide
General Post Office on
King William Street. 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.
The Jetty
In August 1857, construction of Glenelg's first jetty commenced; it was opened on
April 25 1859. Costing over £31,000
(pounds sterling) to build, the structure was 381 metres (1,250 feet) long. The jetty was used not only by fishermen but also to accept cargo from ships, including a mail service operated by
P&O, until
Port Adelaide replaced it as Adelaide's main port.
There were several additions to the jetty. A
lighthouse 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 feet) tall. Other additions include
public baths, an
aquarium, a police shed and a three-story
kiosk 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 feet) long, less than two thirds of the original jetty. The second jetty continues to stand today, at the end of
Jetty Road.
Amusement Parks
Glenelg has been a popular spot for recreation and leisure for much of its history. Following the success of
Luna Park, Melbourne, 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) were disassembled, purchased by the directors, and transported to Sydney, where they were used to create
Luna Park Milsons Point.
As part of the Holdfast Shores development, Magic Mountain was finally demolished in
2004 and replaced with
The Beachouse, 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 was due to be opened in late 2007, but is currently still not under operation.
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 Square, 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 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 in
1966.
Image:Glenelg_around_1869.jpg|Glenelg from the Jetty around 1869
Image:Glenelg sunset.jpg|Sunset over Glenelg beach and jetty
Image:GlenelgBeach.jpg|Looking north along the beach at Glenelg
Demographics
The 2001 Census by the
Australian Bureau of Statistics 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,
Anglican, no religion and
Uniting.
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
The suburb is bordered by
Anzac Highway, the road link to the Adelaide
CBD, to the north, Brighton Road to the west and Pier Street to the south.
Jetty Road is the main shopping strip in the suburb, and runs down the middle. The
Adelaide Metro 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 line still
operating in Adelaide is the
Glenelg Tram, which runs from
Moseley Square, 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 Flexity Classic trams in
2006.
Recreational boating is popular in Glenelg. To the north is the mouth of the
Patawalonga River, which has been dammed to create an artificial boat harbour with a
lock down to the sea.
Events and Attractions
- Jetty Road is a long ribbon of shops, entertainment facilities and other commercial activities - it's the main shopping precinct in Glenelg.
- A shark museum owned and operated by conservationist and shark attack survivor Rodney Fox.
- 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 a team in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), the Glenelg Tigers.
- 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 Epiphany for the Orthodox faithful of Adelaide, accompanied by the Greek festival of the Theophany.
Politics
|
|
|
2006 LGA Elections
City of Holdfast Bay |
Councillors for
Glenelg Ward |
Councillors for
Somerton Ward |
| Rowan Dean |
22.7% |
Mikki Bouchée |
29.6% |
| Peter Heysen |
16.3% |
Tim Looker |
22.6% |
| Bob Fisk |
12.6% |
Phillip Crutchett |
21.4% |
|
Since 1985 Glenelg is located in the
Electoral district of Morphett for the
South Australian House of Assembly, but was previously in a seat also named Glenelg. The current sitting member is
Duncan McFetridge of the
Liberal Party of Australia, 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. Federally, Glenelg is in the
Division of Hindmarsh and is held by
Steve Georganas 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.
Notes and References
Further Information
Get more info on 'Glenelg South Australia'.
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