Carlton, Victoria

Carlton was founded in 1851, at the beginning of the Victorian Gold Rush, with the Carlton Post Office opening on 19 October 1865.[3] By the 1930s, many homes in Carlton were seen as slums and leased by poor residents.

In 1927, Squizzy Taylor, an Australian gangster, was wounded in a gunfight with rival, John "Snowy" Cutmore, at a house in Barkly Street, Carlton, and later died at St Vincent's Hospital.[4]

In the 1960s, the residents in some parts of the suburb were forced to move from their homes due to redevelopment by the Housing Commission of Victoria. Despite that, a number of areas in Carlton have survived intact.[5][6] In the 1970s, Carlton was the site of three trade union green bans. One related to an abandoned block where a developer wanted a warehouse but local residents wanted a park, now the Hardy-Gallagher Reserve (named after Labor councillor Fred Hardy and union leader Norm Gallagher).[7] Another allowed a vacant lot in Cardigan street to be turned into a park, and another saved a number of terraced houses from demolition.[8]

The Carlton Magistrates' Court closed on 1 February 1985.[9]

Little Italy, Melbourne, also sometimes referred to as the "Italian Precinct" or simply "Lygon Street", is a "Little Italy" cultural precinct centred around Lygon Street in Carlton.[12]

Lygon Street is home to a large concentration of Italian restaurants, and is the birthplace of Melbourne's "café culture".[12]

Lygon Street, which runs through the heart of Carlton, is a centre of Italian culture and cuisine. It is popular among Melburnians and foreigners alike for its numerous restaurants, especially Italian restaurants. Lygon Street has six specialist gelaterias, and several continental cake cafes.

Although Lygon Street is most renowned for its cafes and restaurants, it is also home to some notable retail stores including Readings bookstore.

In the 2016 census, there were 18,535 people in Carlton. 27.3% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were China 22.6%, Malaysia 6.4%, Indonesia 3.1%, India 2.6% and Singapore 2.3%. 33.8% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin 25.7%, Cantonese 4.3%, Indonesian 2.8%, Somali 2.3% and Arabic 2.1%. The most common responses for religion was No Religion at 47.5%.[10]

The area is noted for its diverse population that has been the home in earlier days of Jewish and Italian immigrants. A large number of low-income residents live in the substantial public housing estates that were built during the 1960s.

Carlton also has a sizable tertiary student population, local and international, due to its proximity to the University of Melbourne and RMIT University. 61.8% of Carlton residents were attending an educational institution. Of these, 68.6%, or 7,852 residents, were attending a university or tertiary institution.[10]

Carlton falls within the federal electorate of Melbourne (currently held by Adam Bandt of The Greens) and the state electorate of Melbourne (currently held by Ellen Sandell of The Greens).

A traditional working-class suburb, it traditionally saw a high vote for the ALP. However, like many other inner-city suburbs undergoing a process of gentrification, The Greens have been gaining an increasing share of the vote.

The suburb contains three polling booths (Carlton, Carlton Central and Carlton South), which collectively produced the following primary-vote results at the 2019 federal election: Greens 2534 or 62.58%; Labor 668 or 16.5%; Liberal 605 or 14.94%; Reason 212 or 5.24% and United Australia 30 or 0.74%.

Faraday Street Carlton, with University of Melbourne buildings in the distance on the right

Due to Carlton's close proximity to the Parkville campus of the University of Melbourne, many university-owned buildings can be found around Carlton, as a result of the university's expansion through the years. This includes the University Square redevelopment, where the state-of-the-art Law and ICT buildings and a new underground carpark are located. However, the University's continued expansion into Carlton is opposed by some residents. Two of the University's residential colleges are located in Carlton; Medley Hall is located on Drummond Street, while Graduate House is on Leicester Street. Graduate House is a residential college for graduate students only and does not admit any undergraduate students.

Melbourne Business School, Melbourne Law School and part of RMIT University's City Campus are also located in Carlton.

Alan Gilbert Building, University of Melbourne at University Square in Carlton

Victoria and Tasmania's Catholic seminary, Corpus Christi College, is located on Drummond Street. The college accommodates forty seminarians who are studying to become priests.

Primary education is provided by two schools; Carlton Gardens Primary School and Carlton Primary School. CGPS was founded in 1884 and is one of Melbourne's oldest schools and the closest to the Melbourne CBD.

The Melbourne University Regiment (MUR) is based in Grattan Street, Carlton. MUR serves to train potential officers in the Australian Army Reserve. MUR was founded in 1884 as D company, 4th Battalion of the Victorian Rifles, and changed to its current name and role in 1948. Famous alumni include Sir John Monash, Sir Robert Menzies, Sir Ninian Stephen, Barry Humphries, and Andrew Peacock.[13]

Carlton is also very well serviced by the health sector. The Royal Women's Hospital and the new Royal Dental Hospital provide high quality health care. It is also a centre of biomedical research. The Cancer Research Institute and the Australian College of Optometry all have their premises in Carlton. Carlton is the home of NETS (Victoria) which provides emergency transport of sick newborns between hospitals throughout Victoria and from Tasmania. It was also the home of Cancer Council Victoria for many years before moving to St Kilda Road.

Lygon Street Church of Christ built 1865

There are a number of churches in Carlton, which serve the spiritual needs of Carlton residents. St Jude's Church, on Lygon Street, is one of the most active and well attended Anglican churches in the Greater Melbourne area. Other churches in the area include the bluestone Church of All Nations (a Uniting Church) in Palmerston Street dating from 1860, a Romanian Orthodox Church on Queensberry Street, a Salvation Army Church, the Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Chinese Church of Christ and the Christian Chapel of the Church of Christ, built in 1865. The Catholic seminary is located on the site of St George's Catholic Church, Carlton's oldest surviving building, dating from 1855. The Albanian Mosque, Melbourne's oldest mosque is also located on Drummond Street and has been a site where Muslims congregate and holds services.[14]

Z3 tram near the corner of Elgin and Lygon Streets

Carlton is served by many of Melbourne's tram routes, running along Swanston Street and terminating at Melbourne University. Routes 1 and 6 continue through to Carlton North and beyond via Lygon Street.

Buses serve Carlton via Lygon, Elgin, and Rathdowne Streets. There are currently no trains to Carlton, with the closest station being Melbourne Central. There were talks and proposals of extending the City Loop to service Carlton, but no concrete plans have been proposed.

Rod Eddington's East West Link Needs Assessment does mention however, that there will be subway(s) in Carlton, as a part of the proposed 17 km Metro Tunnel.[15]

• Sir Carleton Kemp Allen (1887–1966), scholar[16]
• Sir Thomas Malcolm Ritchie (1894–1971), electrical engineer and Liberal Party president[17]
• Harry Stein (1919–1994), communist and jazz enthusiast
• Kalev Vann (1956–2011), Australian rules footballer
• Very Rev Alexander Yule (1830–1907) Moderator of Victoria in 1891 and of the Federal Assembly of Australia in 1901

• St Jude's Church, Carlton

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Carlton, Victoria.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Melbourne's inner north.

• Australian Places: C En
• Melbourne University Regiment