Northcote, Victoria

Melbourne in 1888

The area now known as Northcote is on the traditional lands of the Wurundjeri people. According to the Darebin Historical Encyclopedia,[3] "white" settlers knew the Wurundjeri as the ‘Yarra’ tribe. They were closely associated with the Yarra River and its subsidiaries, with various subgroups of the tribe owning lands at various spots on the course of the Yarra.

The southerly surveyed portion is now Westgarth. It was the area further north of present-day Westgarth which saw settlement and development, particularly around the mansion built by William Rucker on Bayview Street in 1842 (the area now known as Ruckers Hill). Large, expensive houses were built throughout the Victorian gold rush of the 1850s. Lower Plenty Road (or High Street as it is known today) became the central street of Northcote, instead of Westgarth Street as initially proposed. A bridge was built across the Merri Creek in 1858, making access to the area more convenient. Throughout the 1850s, churches, schools, and hotels were built (see Timeline).

Throughout the 1880s, land in Northcote was relatively cheap, owing to its lack of public transport. This attracted speculative property investors, as well as people of limited financial means, setting in place Northcote's reputation as a working-class suburb. More businesses opened along High Street, as well as churches and schools. The Little Sisters Of The Poor began building on a site along St Georges Road, which still exists today. The town hall was built in 1890, the same year the Borough of Northcote was proclaimed. The Northcote Football Club was established in 1898, with its home ground at Northcote Park.

The Northcote Picture Theatre opened in 1912. Its building is now one of the oldest surviving picture theatres in Victoria. It is now used as a reception centre. A free library opened in 1911, financed by Scottish philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. Throughout the 1920s development grew along St Georges Road. Northcote High School opened in 1926.

Access to Northcote via public transport was initially via the Inner Circle line, which when linked to the Heidelberg line in 1888, ran close to the southern border of the suburb. The line to Whittlesea was opened in 1891, creating a direct line to Northcote, although the line initially journeyed via Royal Park, Carlton North, and Fitzroy North, before a line was built from Clifton Hill to Melbourne through the suburbs of Collingwood and Richmond in 1901 to 1903. The northern section of the Inner Circle Line was closed to passengers in 1948, leaving the eastern section (from Melbourne to Clifton Hill, via Richmond and Collingwood).

Northcote has five railway stations along two lines. The Mernda line serves Merri station, Northcote station and Croxton station. The Hurstbridge line serves Westgarth station and Dennis station.

A cable tram began operations along High Street in 1890. It was replaced in the early 1940s by a double-decker bus service which was in turn replaced with an electric tram service in the 1950s (now tram route 86). An electric tram service opened along St Georges Road in 1920 (now tram route 11). Northcote is also served by bus routes along Separation Street, Westgarth Street and Victoria Road.

Northcote as a suburb has undergone gentrification over the last 25 years. In the 1990s, relative to the rest of Melbourne, Northcote was classified as a low socio-economic area.[4] During the 1996 to 2006 decade, the number of two earner households rose by ten percentage points; the share of households in the top income quintile went from 14 to 19 per cent; and, the percentage of persons age 15 years and above with a bachelor's degree or high rose from 14 to 27 per cent (a much greater increase than experience by Melbourne as a whole). In 2011, a report from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute at Swinburne and Monash universities revealed Northcote had experienced the most intense gentrification of any Melbourne suburb in recent years. In 2013, Northcote was one of only four Melbourne suburbs whose median house price was at an all-time peak.[5] This has resulted in a significant change in the demographics of the suburb. An AHURI report states that between 2001 and 2006, almost 35 per cent of the members of vulnerable groups, including low-income households, single parent families and immigrants, had moved out of the area.

Since 2006, the most significant increases in occupation have come from those working in professional and managerial roles, with less residents now living in Northcote employed in manual labour positions. As a result, residents of Northcote now earn on average $1536 a week, $200 per week higher than the Melbourne average.[6] These changes in the population and demographics of Northcote have reinvigorated the local economy and the economies of the greater Darebin area, with increases in the amount of cafes, bars, restaurants and other small businesses operating currently in the region. Estimates suggest that the greater Darebin area has seen its gross regional product increase by $1 billion in the last 10 years, to $5.23 billion.[7]

68.9% of residents in Northcote were born in Australia. However, 54% of those residents born in Australia had at least one parent born overseas, and 38.7% had both parents born overseas. This reflects the large numbers of second-generation families living in the area.[8]

The most common languages spoken in Northcote other than English are:

• Greek (9.5%)
• Italian (4.5%)
• Vietnamese (1.2%)
• Arabic (1.0%)
• Mandarin (1.0%)

The state seat of Northcote is currently represented by Kat Theophanous, a member of the Labor Party and the federal seat of Cooper, which covers Northcote, is held by Ged Kearney, from the ALP. The state seat of Northcote used to be one of the safest Labor seats in the entire country and has been held by the Labor party continuously since 1927. In fact, since 1927, there have only been five members of Parliament for the seat of Northcote, meaning on average each member has sat for 17 years, relatively unheard of in politics. However, since the gentrification of Northcote the seat is now a swing seat between the ALP and the Australian Greens.

At the 2014 Victoria state election, Labor safely won the seat again with 56% of the votes after preferences. The second most popular party in Northcote after Labor is the Australian Greens party, which received 36% of the votes in 2014.

The ALP in Northcote has been the subject of a number of academic studies. Ethnic branches were established in Northcote during 1975, the first in Victoria.[14] The first branches were Westgarth, a Greek branch, and Croxton, an Italian branch.[15] An additional Greek branch, Northcote East, was also established in the area.[16]

The area surrounding Northcote is home to local sporting teams:

• Northcote Cricket Club, which plays in Victorian Premier Cricket, the top level of district cricket in Victoria.
• Northcote City SC who compete in the Victorian Premier League, second tier behind the A-League.
• Northcote Swimming & Lifesaving Club Inc.
• Northcote Bowls Club
• Northcote United Cricket Club
• Dennis Cricket club
• Smashed Indoor Cricket Team, which is the longest running team at Northcote Indoor Sports.
• Northcote Park Football Club, an Australian Rules football team, competes in the Northern Football League.[17]
• Northcote Junior Football Club (NJFC), a junior Australian Rules football team allied with Northcote Park, competes in the Northern Football League junior division.
• Golfers play at the course of the Northcote Golf Club on Normanby Avenue, in the neighbouring suburb of Thornbury.[18]

• Pender's Grove Primary School (Government co-ed primary school)
• Wales Street Primary School (Government co-ed primary school)
• Westgarth Primary School (Government co-ed primary school)
• Northcote Primary School (Government co-ed primary school)
• Santa Maria College (Catholic all-girls high school)
• Northcote High School (Government co-ed high school)
• St. Josephs Primary School (Catholic co-ed primary school

• Bill Barry - State Parliamentarian and Minister. First leader of the Australian Labor Party (Anti-Communist), a party that became the Democratic Labor Party in 1957.
• Alan Bird - Federal Parliamentarian and Northcote Mayor and Councillor during his period as a parliamentarian
• Cameron Bird - musician from Architecture in Helsinki
• Helen Buckingham - Upper House Victorian Parliamentarian from 2002-2006
• John Cain (senior) - 34th Victorian Premier
• John Cain (junior) - 41st Victorian Premier
• Don Chipp - Federal Parliamentarian, Minister, and founder of the Australian Democrats
• Goldsmith Collins - Footballer and vexatious litigant.[19]
• Scod (Scott Edgar), Yon (Simon Hall) and Gatesy (Steven Gates) - Comedians from Tripod (band)..
• Bill Henson - Contemporary art photographer[20][21]
• Douglas Nicholls - aboriginal Church of Christ Pastor, Northcote and Fitzroy footballer, and Governor of South Australia (1976–1977)
• Phillip Priest - Judge of the Victorian Court of Appeal since 2012
• Jack Regan - Collingwood footballer, born and recruited from Northcote, who became known as the "Prince of Full-backs".
• John Tasioulas - Director of Institute for Ethics in AI and Professor of Ethics and Legal Philosophy at University of Oxford and first Greek-Australian Rhodes Scholar
• Frank Wilkes - former Leader of the Opposition in Victorian Parliament
• Frank Wilson - Stage and television actor, television game show host and Logie Award winner
• Metal band Blood Duster

• City of Northcote - the former local government area