Grovedale, Victoria facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Grovedale Geelong, Victoria
Looking south towards Grovedale from Highton
Grovedale Location in City of Greater Geelong
Population	14,869 (2021 census)
LGA(s)	City of Greater Geelong
State electorate(s)	South Barwon
Federal Division(s)	Corangamite
Suburbs around Grovedale: Highton Belmont Marshall Waurn Ponds Grovedale Marshall Mount Duneed Armstrong Creek Charlemont

Grovedale is a suburb located in the southern part of Geelong, Victoria, Australia. In 2021, about 14,869 people lived in Grovedale. It's a busy area with a mix of homes and local businesses.

Grovedale's Story: How It Grew

Where Did the Name Grovedale Come From?

Grovedale was first called Germantown. This was because many families from Germany who followed the Lutheran church settled there in 1849. The German community grew a lot over the next few decades. You can still see an old house from this time called German Cottage on the Surf Coast Highway. It's a special historical building.

When World War I started, especially after a German submarine sank a ship called the RMS Lusitania in 1915, people wanted to change the name. They didn't want the area to be called "Germantown" anymore. Many people met and suggested new names like Marlborough or Cornwall. Other ideas were Devon, Dennys, and Grovedale.

The local council chose Cornwall first. But the government said no, because there was already a place called Cornwall in Australia. So, the council suggested "Bridges" or "Grovedale." They liked Grovedale best. This name came from a property bought by Alexander Pennell in 1847. The Post Office officially changed its name to Grovedale on March 1, 1916.

Early Days of Settlement

The first Post Office in the area opened a long time ago, on January 21, 1860. In those early days, Grovedale also had two hotels, two flour mills (for grinding grain), two tanneries (for making leather), and four businesses that washed wool.

The land in Grovedale, with its hills and volcanic soil, was perfect for growing fruit and grapes. Because of this, the area became Victoria's biggest wine-making region. German settlers were especially good at growing grapes. However, in the early 1870s, tiny bugs called phylloxera aphids attacked the grapevines. These bugs destroyed the plants, and all the grapevines had to be removed.

Growing Bigger: The Housing Boom

Looking north over Grovedale and the Waurn Ponds Shopping Centre in 2007

Grovedale started to get many new houses in the early 1960s. The first new neighborhoods were built off the Surfcoast Highway. Later, from the 1970s to the 1990s, more homes were built further west along streets like Church Street, Pioneer Road, and Heyers Road.

A new Post Office, called Grovedale East Post Office, opened in 1996 near the Surf Coast Highway.

Grovedale used to be the very edge of Geelong's southern suburbs. But then, new areas like the Armstrong Creek Growth Area started to be built. In 2012, the government changed the suburb boundaries a lot. They created two new suburbs: Armstrong Creek and Charlemont. They also made Mount Duneed bigger. Now, Grovedale's southern border ends at the railway line.

Getting Around Grovedale

Grovedale is located on the Surfcoast Highway. This main road connects the suburb to the center of Geelong. It also leads to the coastal town of Torquay. Pioneer Road is another important road that runs east to west through Grovedale. This road wasn't fully connected across the Waurn Ponds Creek until the late 1980s.

If you want to use public transport, there are buses available. These buses are run by Benders Buslines and McHarrys Buslines. They can take you to the Geelong city center. The bus routes also go past Deakin University, Belmont, Highton, and Waurn Ponds.

In 2003–04, there was talk about extending the train line from Melbourne to Geelong further south to Grovedale. However, a decision was made to build a new train station at nearby Marshall instead. The new Marshall station opened in 2005. Later, in the 2010s, the train line was extended even further. A new station called Waurn Ponds station opened on October 12, 2014.