Upwey, Victoria
Encyclopedia
Upwey is a suburb in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

, Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, 32 kilometres (19.9 mi) east from Melbourne's central business district
Melbourne city centre
Melbourne City Centre is an area of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. It is not to be confused with the larger local government area of the City of Melbourne...

. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Yarra Ranges
Shire of Yarra Ranges
The Yarra Ranges Shire is a Local Government Area in Victoria, Australia, located in the outer eastern and northeastern suburbs of Melbourne extending into the Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges...

 and City of Knox
City of Knox
The City of Knox is a Local Government Area in Victoria, Australia, located in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. It has an area of and has a estimated population of 155,969 people.-History:...

. At the 2006 Census, Upwey had a population of 6,760.

History

The area of Upwey was originally known as "Mast Gully" as several masts for ships were cut down in the 1850s. To this day Mast Gully Creek and Mast Gully Road still remain. The Tullidge sisters bought a homestead in 1897 and named it after an English village on the River Wey—Upwey. On the 18 December 1900 the narrow gauge
Narrow gauge
A narrow gauge railway is a railway that has a track gauge narrower than the of standard gauge railways. Most existing narrow gauge railways have gauges of between and .- Overview :...

 railway from Upper Ferntree Gully to Gembrook was opened and they requested the Victorian Railways
Victorian Railways
The Victorian Railways operated railways in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companies failed or defaulted, the Victorian Railways was established to take over their operations...

 build a stopping place nearby, which was agreed to and on Monday, 3 June 1901, a station named Upwey was opened. The name was adopted locally, with the Upwey Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...

 opening in 1904 and a post office opening on 1 July 1909.

In 1918, the Upwey Convention started holding annual gatherings over the Christmas – New Year period—initially held at the Upwey Union (now Baptist) Church and later moving to their own property next to the High School. When the State Government acquired the land to extend the High School, the Convention moved to Belgrave Heights in 1950.

By the 1920s both a Progress Association and a fire brigade had been established and by the end of the 1920s and early 1930s many weekenders had been built in the area. When the Great Depression occurred the Victorian Government opened up Dandenong Ranges to housing and the population of Upwey and the surrounding foothills grew steadily. Upwey Primary School opened in 1934 and still exists today. Upwey Higher Elementary School opened in 1937 and became Upwey High School in 1945. Today it serves as the main secondary education provider in the Dandenong Ranges, taking students from around the foothills and Mount Dandenong.

In 1954 the railway was closed due to a landslide the previous year further along the line past Selby
Selby railway station
Selby railway station serves the town of Selby in North Yorkshire, England. The station is on the Hull-York Line south of York, Leeds-Hull Line east of Leeds and west of Hull....

, only to see it reopened as far as Belgrave in 1955 for three years as the first effort to run it as a preserved tourist railway, again closing in 1958. In 1962 the railway from Upper Ferntree Gully to Belgrave was reopened as part of the broad gauge
Broad gauge
Broad-gauge railways use a track gauge greater than the standard gauge of .- List :For list see: List of broad gauges, by gauge and country- History :...

 suburban electric network, giving Upwey a direct link to Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

. With the reopening of the railway, the main road (Monbulk Road) no longer crossed the railway next to the station, but continue further on going under a railway bridge. Some years later, Upwey was by-passed with Collier Avenue on the north of the railway being upgraded and renamed Monbulk Road—later to be renamed Burwood Highway. The main street on the south side of the railway became a quiet local shopping strip.

In 1997 the Dandenong Ranges suffered devastating bushfires that threatened Upwey and its neighbouring towns, however Upwey was spared from the onslaught. After the last branch of the Commonwealth Bank closed Upwey's local banking services were reduced to an ATM in the old bank building. In 1998 the abandoned bank building became the first metropolitan and third ever Community Bank branch of Bendigo Bank, a model that returns branch profits into the community.

Business and community

Today Upwey is a thriving community. Main Street boasts a wide variety of shops and services, instilling a traditional community village nature into an outer eastern suburb of Melbourne.

Together with its neighbouring township Tecoma
Tecoma, Victoria
Tecoma is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 34 km east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Yarra Ranges...

 Upwey has an Australian Rules  football team (Upwey-Tecoma) competing in the Yarra Valley Mountain District Football League
Yarra Valley Mountain District Football League
The Yarra Valley Mountain District Football League is an Australian rules football and netball competition based in Victoria to the east and northeast of Melbourne.-History:...

.
3158

Transport

Upwey is on the Belgrave Railway line. It has one railway station
Upwey railway station, Melbourne
Upwey is a railway station in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, located in the suburb of Upwey, on the Belgrave railway line. Upwey is unstaffed and is in Metcard Zone 2.-Facilities:...

 which is located adjacent to Main Street, Upwey's main shopping strip.

Creeks and waterways

Upwey has two main creeks, Ferny Creek and Upwey Creek. These two creeks are part of the Dandenong Creek catchment, that flows into Port Phillip
Port Phillip
Port Phillip Port Phillip Port Phillip (also commonly referred to as Port Phillip Bay or (locally) just The Bay, is a large bay in southern Victoria, Australia; it is the location of Melbourne. Geographically, the bay covers and the shore stretches roughly . Although it is extremely shallow for...

 at Patterson Lakes
Patterson Lakes, Victoria
Patterson Lakes is a suburb in outer south-east Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and is located 32 km south-east of Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Kingston. In the 2006 Census Patterson Lakes had a population of 7,235 people.Patterson Lakes consists...

.

External links

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