Carlton is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km north from Melbourne's Central Business District. Its Local Government Area is the City of Melbourne. At the 2011 Census, Carlton had a population of 13,509.
Its boundaries are roughly Elizabeth Street to the west, Princes Street to the north, Victoria Parade to the south, and Nicholson Street to the east.
The suburb is well known for its "Little Italy" precinct on Lygon Street, for its Victorian architecture and its European-style squares (University Square, Lincoln Square, Argyle Place and MacArthur Place) and the Carlton Gardens, the latter being the location of the Royal Exhibition Building, one of Australia's few man-made sites with World Heritage status.
Carlton is thought to have been named after Carlton House, London.
Carlton was founded in 1851 at the beginning of the Victorian Gold Rush, with the Carlton Post Office opening on 19 October 1865.
Demographics[]
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. The two main estates are between Lygon and Rathdowne Streets, and between Nicholson and Canning Streets. These are configured as a mixture of 4 and 5-storey walk-up flats and 22-storey high-rise towers which are in the process of being redeveloped as mixed-tenure housing.
Carlton also has a sizeable tertiary student population, local and international, due to its proximity to the University of Melbourne and RMIT University. While much of the student housing has traditionally been in the older Victorian terraces, common throughout the area, the new residential buildings developed during the 1990s and early 2000s (decade) targeted at the international student market have transformed the once low-rise skyline of Swanston Street, so that its predominant height is about 10-11 storeys.
Local landmarks[]
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.
Royal Exhibition Building located on Rathdowne Street
Carlton is home to some of Melbourne's most historically significant buildings such as Melbourne Trades Hall and the World Heritage Site of the Carlton Gardens, the Royal Exhibition Building and the ruins of the old Carlton Brewery, a collection of buildings constructed between 1864 and 1927, all listed on the Victorian Heritage Register. The Carlton Gardens are also home to the Melbourne Museum.
Carlton has many 19th century public buildings. The Carlton Club, which was built in 1889 by Inskip & Robertson, is notable for its decorative Australian native kangaroo gargoyles and polychrome Florentine arches. The Carlton Post Office and Police Station are both fine Renaissance Revival styled buildings. The Carlton Court House on Drummond Street was designed in the Gothic style by G.B.H Austin and constructed between 1888 and 1889. The Lygon Buildings on Lygon Street were built in 1888 in the Mannerist style. Carlton Gardens Primary School, on Rathdowne Street, opened in 1884.
Residential
Three storey terrace houses in Drummond Street Carlton, Victoria
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Many heritage registered Victorian terrace houses can be found on Drummond Street, a long wide boulevard flanked by grand homes, including Rosaville (no46 built 1883), Medley Hall (no48 built 1892-93), Drummond Terrace (no 93-105 built 1890-91), Lothian Terrace (no175-179 built 1865-69), Terraces at 313&315 (1889), Police Station (no330 built 1878) and Court House (no345-355 built 1887-88).
Notable public spaces[]
The Bali Memorial, which commemorates the victims of the 2002 Bali bombings, is located in Lincoln Square. It was officially opened on 12 October 2005, the third anniversary of the explosion that killed 202 innocent people, including 88 Australians.
The northern part of Argyle Square, adjacent to Lygon Street, has been redeveloped into an Italian piazza, known as Piazza Italia, in a joint project between the City of Melbourne and its twin city, Milan. A giant sundial is the main feature of the piazza.
