Caulfield

Caulfield is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) south-east of Melbourne's central business district.

Caulfield is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) south-east of Melbourne's central business district. Its local government area is the City of Glen Eira.

It is bounded by Kooyong Road in the west, Glen Eira Road in the north, Glen Huntly Road in the south and Booran Road in the east.

Caulfield is best known as the location of Caulfield Racecourse and the Caulfield campus of Monash University.

The origin of the name of Caulfield is not known for certain, but the name seemed to be linked with Baron Caulfield of Ireland, perhaps through John Caulfield, a pioneer of the colony.The name Caulfield was in use by 1853, and the early maps always place it somewhere around the racecourse.

The local Yalukit people were coastal and dependent on seafoods, so few Aboriginal relics have been found in Caulfield. Nevertheless, some contact did occur in the area between Aborigines and British settlers. Murrum Murrumbean was a local native from whom the placename Murrumbeena derives. Frederick Chapman (later Justice of the New Zealand Supreme Court) was able to recollect a corroboree which took place in Hotham Street, involving hundreds of Gippsland Aborigines.

In the mid nineteenth century, the Caulfield area was swampy, low-lying ground. It served as watering and pasture land for the pastoralists driving stock from Gippsland to Melbourne. In the 1840s, several distinct communities had arisen throughout the area. Owensville was located around the western end of Glen Eira Road. Alma Road Village was another middle class area further north. Camden Town was a working class area at the junction of Glen Huntly and Hawthorn Roads. Meanwhile, the area south of Paddy's Swamp (now Caulfield Park) developed into the main commercial area of Caulfield. Initially the Black Chapel at that point served as the area's first church. This building was soon converted to Boxill's general store. The whole area was proclaimed the Caulfield Road District in 1857. It served as a location for several grand mansions for wealthy Melbourne citizens over the following decades. Caulfield Post Office opened on 1 January 1863 and closed in 1974. Caulfield Junction Post Office opened in 1923 and remains open.