Burwood

Burwood is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 14 km east of Melbourne's Central Business District.

Burwood is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 14 km east of Melbourne's Central Business District. Its local government areas are the Cities of Monash and Whitehorse. At the 2016 Census, Burwood had a population of 15,019.

The first settlement in the area, known as Ballyshanassy, was surveyed in 1858. The settlement changed name to Norwood and subsequently Burwood in 1879. The Post Office opened on 1 May 1853 as Ballyshanassy and was renamed Burwood around June 1879.The name "Burwood" (later "Invergowrie") was the name of a house built by Sir James Palmer, in Hawthorn West, in 1852. The original settlement was centred near Burwood Cemetery and the Police Station, but the focus shifted to the intersection of Warrigal Road and Toorak Road, with later commercial development. The suburb later spread westwards to the Hartwell railway station, which was renamed as Burwood railway station.By 1904, Burwood had a population of 600 and had a post office, two hotels, a savings bank and a number of churches. The township at that time was surrounded by farms and market gardens. Albers’ Daffodil Farm is typical of the local market gardens and was established in 1934. It operated on the site where Deakin University’s Burwood Campus is now located, until the site was sold to the government in 1951.

The extension of the Toorak Road tramline in 1912 was a catalyst for residential development in the area. Following World War II, development headed east along Burwood Highway to and beyond the neighbourhood of Bennettswood, where a post office has been open since 2 February 1954.

The Allambie Reception Centre for juvenile wards of the state was located at Burwood.

Burwood Boys Home, originally located at 155 Warrigal Road, was founded in 1895 by Robert Campbell Edwards, who was concerned about the number of children living on the streets of Melbourne. The facility changed its name to Burwood Children's Home when girls began to be admitted after 1972. It was closed in 1986. The location is now used for Cameron Close retirement village.

In the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s the Methodist Church developed residential units (cottages) on the site of 87 Elgar Road, Burwood, for the care of abandoned and neglected children, children that were deemed wards of the state of Victoria. This site was sold and relocated to Meadow Heights in 1989.

The Princess Elizabeth Kindergarten for the Deaf, the first facility of its kind in Australia, was opened on a site at 90 Elgar Road in 1950. It was later known as the Princess Elizabeth Junior School for Deaf Children.

The Royal Victorian Institute of the Blind (now Vision Australia) purchased 41 acres (170,000 m2) of land on Burwood Highway in 1951 for a school, which was opened in 1959. This school was closed down in December 2009. The site was also used by St. Andrews Christian College from 1998 to 2010. It has now been replaced Greenwood business park and a large housing development.

The Burwood Skyline, opened in February 1954, was Australia's first drive-in theatre. Operated by Hoyts, it had a 652 car capacity, later increasing to 743. The drive-in was located near the intersection of Burwood Highway and McComas Grove, in a natural amphitheatre setting, provided by the Gardiners Creek Valley. The screen was located on a high point on the other side of the creek from the viewing area. The first film publicly screened was On the Riviera, starring Danny Kaye and Gene Tierney. The drive in was very popular in its early years, often causing traffic jams in the local area. A playground was provided for children, which included a motorised carousel.Following a decline in audience numbers over a number of years, the drive-in closed on 22 June 1983, with a screening of We of the Never Never and Local Hero.