Town by town snapshot – Marshall

The size of Marshall is approximately 2.3 square kilometres and sits to the north of the Armstrong Creek growth corridor.

The population of Marshall in 2011 was 1,798 people and by the 2016 Census the population was 1,899, showing a population growth of 5.6 per cent in the area during that time.

Marshall, previously called Marshalltown, is an industrial and residential suburb five kilometres south of Geelong neighbouring Breakwater, and was included in that area before gaining a separate name.

The Breakwater area was used for tanneries, fellmongeries and animal by-product industries. Many of them were located there to take advantage of the saltwater Barwon River, south of the artificial breakwater that was built in 1837.

By the mid-1850s Thomas Marshall, a Geelong wool merchant, established a wool scouring works near the breakwater, and the place was named after him.

In the 1850s, Marshall and areas to its south were covered with wattle, a source of wattle bark for tanneries.

In 1877, the railway line from Colac to Geelong was opened, and in 1879 there was a line to Geelong racecourse until 1906 when racing moved to north of the river at Breakwater.

By the early 1900s, Marshall had a small industrial township with a school, hotel, post office and an Anglican church.

In 2012, residential development in Marshall was signalled by the Armstrong Creek development plan.

CoreLogic data indicates that the predominant age group in Marshall is 30-39 years with households in Marshall being primarily childless couples and are likely to be repaying $1,400 – $1,799 per month on mortgage repayments, and in general, people in Marshall work in a professional occupation.

In 2011, 72.5 per cent of the homes in Marshall were owner-occupied compared with 61.6% in 2016.