Keilor, Victoria

Infobox Australian Place | type = suburb
name = Keilor
city = Melbourne
state = vic

---

caption = Brimbank Park at Keilor
lga = City of Brimbank
lga2 = City of Hume
postcode = 3036
pop = 5670 (2006)Census 2006 AUS | id = SSC21367 | name = Keilor (State Suburb) | accessdate = 2007-09-26 | quick = on]
area = 16.4
est =
propval = $400,000 [ [http://www.domain.com.au/public/suburbprofile.aspx?suburb=Keilor&postcode=3036 Keilor] , accessed 27 November 2006]
stategov = Keilor, Niddrie
fedgov = Gorton
dist1 = 20
location1= Melbourne
dist2 =
location2=
near-nw = Keilor Lodge
near-n = Keilor North
near-ne = Melbourne Airport
near-w = Taylors Lakes
near-e = Keilor Park
near-sw = Keilor Downs
near-s = Keilor Downs
near-se = Keilor East

Keilor is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is shared between two Local Government Areas: the City of Brimbank and the City of Hume. At the 2006 Census, Keilor had a population of 5670.

Whilst most of the suburb is contained within the City of Brimbank, the northern section of Keilor, located north of the Calder Freeway, is located in the City of Hume. This section of the suburbs is located on the flood plain of the Maribyrnong River, and is home to many market gardens.

The suburb is essentially residential with large industrial developments in adjacent suburbs.

There are several shopping centres around the area including Centro Keilor and Watergardens Town Centre located approximately 5km from Keilor.

History

About 1 million years ago lava covered the previous landscape and created basalt plains. Over time, the Maribyrnong River carved itself through the basalt plains.

Australian megafauna including 3 meter high kangaroos and Diprotodons were found in the area until extinction about 13,000 years ago at the end of the ice age.

The Wurundjeri Aborigines inhabited the area for approximately 40,000 years. It is one of the oldest inhabited sites in Australia.

The first Europeans to pass through the area were Charles Grimes surveying party who followed the Maribynong River upstream in the Summer of 1803. Grimes report of the area was unfavourable. In June 1835, John Batman followed a similar route and remarked of Keilor that it was the "Most beautiful sheep pasturage I ever saw in my life".

In about 1838 the first European settlements were established by pastoralists James Watson and Alexander Hunter. James Watson is thought to have named the area after a place called Keilor in Forfarshire, Scotland where his father farmed a large property.

In the 1850s people would stopover at Keilor during their travels from Melbourne to the Bendigo goldfields. Keilor saw an influx of new settlers who intended to cash in on this new market. Keilor Post Office opened on 2 March 1854 Citation
last = Premier Postal History | title = Post Office List | url = https://www.premierpostal.com/cgi-bin/wsProd.sh/Viewpocdwrapper.p?SortBy=VIC&country= | accessdate = 2008-04-11 ] and a general store, blacksmith, hotel, police station, courthouse and bridge were all built during this time.

The area became an agricultural district and remained so until after World War II when the suburb saw a rapid increase in population due to cheap land and the establishment of large industries in surrounding suburbs.

Notable residents

* Mark Viduka, English Premier League player and captain of the Australian national soccer team, grew up in Keilor. [cite web
url=http://newgeneration.croatianherald.com/EXCLUSIVE/tabid/95/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/432/Council-keen-on-Viduka-shrine.aspx
title=Council keen on Viduka shrine
work=Croatian Herald
date=August 17, 2006
publisher=newgeneration.croatianherald.com
accessdate=2008-07-08]

See also

* City of Keilor - the former local government area of the same name.
* Brimbank Park, Melbourne

References

External links

* [http://www.keilor.basketball.net.au/fs_home.asp] Keilor Thunder Basketball - Big V
* [http://home.vicnet.net.au/~khis/ The Keilor Historical Society]