Suburb snapshot – East Geelong

The size of East Geelong is about 3.4 square kilometres and has two parks covering nearly 24.4 per cent of total area.

The population of East Geelong in 2016 was 3,863 people and by the 2021 Census, the population was 4,012 showing a population growth of 4 per cent in the area during that time.

East Geelong is a residential suburb close to Geelong’s central business district and includes Eastern Park on Limeburners Point.

Limeburners Point was a source of building lime from as early as 1838 and, along with lime deposits on the Mornington Peninsula, were the major source for the Melbourne building trades for several decades.

Eastern Park was unimproved open space until the late 1850’s when the botanic gardens were first laid out on a few acres.

To its south there was a cemetery (first burial 1839), put on a more organised footing when a cemetery trust was appointed in 1877.

Along the beach there were a sea baths (1854), west of Limeburners Point, and east of the point there was a rifle range.

Geelong East primary school in Boundary Road opened in 1857, set in the midst of a farming community.

A local post office opened in 1871 and an Anglican church in 1890 in Fitzroy Street, not quite in East Geelong.

In 1916 the building was moved to McKillop Street and replaced in 1929.

Electric tram services began in Geelong in 1912, and in an easterly line to Garden Street began in 1915.

The next year, Geelong High School opened at the corner of Garden Street and Ryrie Street, the south-west part of Eastern Park.

From then it can be said that urban East Geelong began, and lines were extended along Ryrie Street and Ormond Road in 1924, ending respectively at Humble Street and Boundary Road.

In 1926, work was begun on foreshore improvements, including the swimming enclosure, there were also mineral springs and the Parkside swimming pool.

In place of the rifle range there is now a CSIRO animal health laboratory.

CoreLogic Data indicates the predominant age group in East Geelong is 50-59 years with households in East Geelong being primarily couples with children and are likely to be repaying $1,800-$2,399 per month on mortgage repayments, and in general, people in East Geelong work in a professional occupation.

AGENT PERSPECTIVE:

“East Geelong is like most central suburbs in Geelong, performing well and selling for a fair market value.

“Despite the current real estate climate, character homes in East are in demand given their close proximity to Garden St, Geelong CBD and the waterfront.”

Shaun Carroll – residential sales and auctioneer, Maxwell Collins Geelong

TIDBIT:

In 1923 the East Geelong Golf Club opened, between Eastern Park and the old rifle range.