Finding out more about Croydon in Australia
Croydon is a city in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia positioned approximately 28 kilometres east of Melbourne's . It carries a population of nearly 27,000 individuals. The area which became Croydon was first put to use back in the 1840’s by colonists for grazing of farm animals. The very first road through the region was known as Sawmill road because of a sawmill close by. Later on it had been changed to Oxford Road and in the 1900’s that it was altered to what it is identified today as Mt Dandenong Road. The area itself was initially referred to as White Flats because the region was to a great extent populated by a rough silvery-white grass. The name of Croydon was presented to it by the Lacey family who came from Essx, England who named it after the Croydon in the UK that was Mrs. Lacey's hometown. Close to the current Main St shopping area is a street named after the Lacey family.
Packages of property in the region were first mapped in 1868 along with the location was first formally habituated with all the location being focused on the farming of sheep, beef and dairy. There have been also some sawmills set up. After that, there were orchards which incorporated apples, cherries, pears, peaches and plums that thrived. Some of the present street names close by Croydon today mirror that first development. In 1874 Cobb & Co started services with horses and buggies to the area. A railroad track to the region was opened up on 1 December 1882 and the train station was labeled Warrandyte that was not really actually in Warrandyte that was deceptive as that region would be a horse and coach journey 10km away. On 1 August 1884 it was relabeled to become called the Croydon railway stop. From the mid-1880s Mr James Hewish built his homestead and began a number of other business ventures that integrated a general store, news agency, butchers shop as well as a hotel. Also, he founded various orchard trees. The Croydon Postal Service was exposed on 1 December 1883. The nearby Nelson's Hill Post Office opened up in 1902 and it was later renamed Burnt Bridge in 1979. On Mt Dandenong Road in 1908 Croydon Hall was developed. Croydon was eventually proclaimed and gazetted as being a town in 1912.
In 1920 a Monday marketplace was started in Croydon including live animals, chickens, birds as well as other small animals. It was really a known landmark in the area and a favorite meeting spot for locals from nearby suburbs prior to the site was redeveloped in the 80s. It was finally shut down in 2012. Administratively, Croydon was at first an important part of what was then the Shire of Lillydale, however in 1957 a demand was processed by administrators for Croydon to go out of the Shire of Lillydale and be its own regulating enterprise. The City and Shire of Croydon was incorporated in May 1961 and was proclaimed as a City in 1971. Afterwards, it was amalgamated, together with the City of Ringwood being the City of Maroondah in 1994. Today, the Main Street of Croydon is a booming community hub that has almost 200 traders.
