Mount Pleasant, Victoria
Mount Pleasant Federal division(s) | Ballarat | ||||||||||||||
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Mount Pleasant is the oldest residential suburb of
The converging lines of the main streets that lead into Mount Pleasant from the north (Barkly, Humffray and Bond streets) follow the original tracks that connected it to the Main Road commercial area in the 1850s.
In December 1854, on the gentle slope above the creek, the Cornish families set up their tents and established a school, a memorial to which can be found near the reserve. This quiet life was rudely disrupted in late 1856 when gold was found and for a few years Mount Pleasant itself suffered all the disturbances of a rush. The newer housing development beyond Elsworth Street is where much of the surface mining took place. There were several hotels near where the sewerage pipe now runs, When the alluvial gold ran out, the community settled down and its Methodist character reasserted itself. By the end of the century all the hotels had been closed. From the 1870s a string of Chinese market gardens were established along the creek. Humffray Street and even Morton Street were busy with shops. A very active community developed with sporting teams and cultural activities.
The tent school soon became a well-attended denominational school next to the church. When the colonial government introduced free, compulsory and secular education, the Methodist school closed and in 1874 all 500 pupils marched to the new State School in Cobden Street, the first to be built in Ballarat.
Until the 1970s Mount Pleasant was a largely self-contained community. It was the end of the line. From 1926 until 1972 an electric tram terminated at Bartles Corner (the corner of Barkly and Cobden streets), where there were two general stores, a post office, a butcher, a cake shop and a shoe repairer. Everyone shopped locally.
With the closure of the church and the everyday shops, it is mainly the primary school, which traces its origins back to the beginning of Mount Pleasant as a suburb, which continues as a communal centre.
The suburb is bordered by the
At the 2021 census, Mount Pleasant had a population of 2,225.[1]
A single bus service, the Buninyong (Route 11) connects Mount Pleasant to the city.[2]
References
- ^ a b Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Mount Pleasant (State Suburb)". 2021 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
- ^ "Ballarat Bus Network" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 October 2009. Retrieved 5 May 2011.