Alberton

Alberton is a metropolitan suburb in Adelaide, South Australia, about 20 minutes drive from the city.

Alberton is a metropolitan suburb in Adelaide, South Australia, about 20 minutes drive from the city. Part of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield, it is bordered by the suburbs of Rosewater, Queenstown, Cheltenham and Port Adelaide.

Alberton, like Port Adelaide, is rich in historical significance.On 7 March 1839, the South Australian Company was granted private subdivision of preliminary section 423. Section 423 was sold as 'The Town of Albert' and subsequently became 'Albert Town' after Prince Albert, Prince Consort of Queen Victoria. Eventually, 'Alberton' became commonly used and around the turn of the century was officially adopted as the suburb's name.With demand for workers at the Port and homes for these workers needed, late in 1840 there were already 61 houses and 235 residents in Alberton. The layout of 'Albert Town' originally had provisions for four public squares, two of which still exist. St Georges' Square became the site for the Anglican Church while St Andrew's Square was later subdivided and became the site of the Trinity Uniting Church. St Patrick's Square and Company Square are today still used as public recreation areas (Couper-Smartt, 2003).Many of the streets in Alberton took the names of the original purchasers while others, such as 'Prince', 'Queen' and 'King' Streets reflect their English heritage.Alberton Post Office opened on 1 January 1855.The District Council of Queenstown and Alberton was established in 1864, bringing dedicated local government to the residents of the two townships either side of the new Port Road. In 1898 this council was absorbed by the Corporate Town of Port Adelaide.

Alberton Oval is located on Queen Street. The ground is used for Australian rules football and cricket and has a capacity of 15,000 people with seated grandstands holding 2,000.

Alberton Oval is the training and administration base for the Port Adelaide Football Club.

First licensed in 1848, the Alberton Hotel is one of the oldest hotels in South Australia.For the past 60 years, it has been owned and operated by the Brien family.The old bluestone structure still stands at the same spot on the corner of Port Road and Sussex Street.

Located on Parker Street, the former Alberton Cemetery was opened in 1847 and officially closed in 1874, with the last burial being conducted in 1922. Parker Street is a very short street which runs off Port Road, between the old Alberton Baptist and Alberton Uniting Churches (neither now used as churches).

On 17 November 1847, the governor of South Australia granted 4 acres of land to St Paul's Church of England church for burials, although the land was used for burials before that date. The cemetery was closed on 15 January 1874, with the last official burial being conducted in 1922.The land was transferred to the Port Adelaide Council in 1938 and developed as a park in 1994.Details of the approximately 3,000 people interred are available from The Anglican Diocesan of Adelaide Archives.In 1994, the land on which the former cemetery was located was converted into a park by the City of Port Adelaide. The cemetery is no longer used for burials, and has been made into a public park, with some gravestones still evident.