Suburb by suburb snapshot Golden Square

Golden Square is approximately 8.5 square kilometres and has six parks covering nearly 1.6 per cent of total area.

The population in 2016 was 8814 and by the 2021 Census was recorded at 9220 showing a population growth of 4.6 per cent in the area during that time.

Golden Square is two kilometres west of Bendigo city centre with the Bendigo Creek and some of its tributaries flowing through the suburb, and it was in that vicinity in 1851 that gold was discovered, leading to the rushes to the Bendigo goldfields.

A village or township was surveyed in 1854, the year after a Wesleyan church was opened.

Part of the Golden Square school (1875) still occupies the original site at the corner of Laurel and Panton streets.

Golden Square, or ‘the Square’ as it is locally known, developed as its own identity from 1851, the year the first gold discoveries were made on Bendigo Creek at a place then named Golden Point, and later Golden Square.

The wealth won from the mines resulted in a fairly well-paid workforce, and several substantial civic buildings were constructed.

The Golden Square Football Club entered the Bendigo Football League in 1935 and won nine premierships in the next 50 years.

The local public swimming pool on Maple Street was saved from demolition and reopened as a community facility in 2013.

Golden Square was the terminus of the westerly passenger tramline that was closed 1973, and it had a railway station on the line from Melbourne to Bendigo.

In 1960 the Golden Square High School was opened, and it continued as a secondary college until 2008.

Golden Square’s houses range from cottages to comfortable Edwardian brick structures and a notable example is Commersdale House built in 1898 on Panton Street.

CoreLogic data indicates that the predominant age group in Golden Square is 20-29 years with households being primarily childless couples and are likely to be repaying on average $1300 per month on mortgages.

In general, people in Golden Square work in a professional occupation.