Kangaroo Ground

Kangaroo Ground is a town in Victoria, Australia, 26 km north-east of Melbourne's Central Business District.

Kangaroo Ground is a town in Victoria, Australia, 26 km north-east of Melbourne's Central Business District. Its local government area is the Shire of Nillumbik. At the 2016 Census, Kangaroo Ground had a population of 1,095. There are two sources for the origin of the name. The name arises from the extraordinary richness of the locality with kangaroo grass before it was settled. It is a descriptive term, apparently coined by William Ryrie but first formally recorded in February 1838 by Robert Hoddle in his diary: "Crossed a creek nearly dry and entered some forest land distant from Melbourne called Kangaroo Grounds.... It abounds in kangaroos, hence its name."

An agricultural district, Kangaroo ground was considered one of the oldest and richest in the early History of Victoria, due to the extraordinary richness of its soil. It was on the road to the Woods Point gold diggings. The Kangaroo Ground Post Office opened on 4 October 1854. In the centre of the district stands a high knoll, known as Garden Hill occupied by Kangarooo Ground War Memorial Park.In 1874 views could be seen of the Kew Asylum and ships coming up Hobson's Bay. The earliest settler in the area was Mr Donaldson who purchased land when it part of New South Wales holdings.Kangaroo Ground is one of the earliest settled areas of the Shire of Nillumbik. At one time it rivalled Eltham as the major centre of the former Shire of Eltham."Kangaroo Ground General Store" /> A sugar gum tree on a road reserve in the centre of the township is an especially large specimen and is considered significant as a rare example of this species of eucalyptus commonly planted elsewhere in the early 1900s.Similarly a very mature remnant manna gum of the former indigenous landscape is a local landmark tree of significant size and age and considered significant.Hawthorn Hedges (or crateaegus monogyna) were planted about 1860s to the 1870s in the area, reflecting the adoption of Eue.In 1878 While on a tip to England, John Donaldson visited Windsor Great Park where he collected some acorns. He returned to Kangaroo Ground and planted them on his property Kangaroo Hall. The quercus robur or oak tree was estimated to be 110 years old in 2004.In 1878 the Presbyterian Church was constructed of polychrome brick and is attributed to the architect C. W. Maplestone,In 1892 a weatherboard vestry was added at the rear of the church.It is considered historically, architecturally, aesthetically, socially and spiritually significant to the Shire of Nillumbik.The Pigeon Bank residence and garden commenced in the 1860s includes mature exotic site plantings and is considered historically and aesthetically significant to the Shire of Nillumbik.The house is associated with Francis Rogerson, an early pioneer and politician Ewan Cameron who lived at the property from 1874 until 1915. Cameron farmed one hundropean farming techniques by European settlers. Some hedges remain and are considered historically and aesthetically significant to the Shire of Nillumbik. The Wippell Farm complex consists of a surviving timber slab farm building representative of the complex Victorian and Edwardian-era farming at Kangaroo Ground. Rare mature planting remain on the site which is considered significant to the Nillumbik Shire and are listed on the Victorian Heritage Databasred acres or forty hectares on this property.He married Agnes Bell, daughter of John Bell, a farmer also of Kangaroo Ground.They had eight sons and three daughters. Cameron died at Kangaroo Ground on 27 September 1915.The nineteenth century Garden Hill weatherboard house and its associated shearing shed are historically and aesthetically significant to the Shire of Nillumbik. It was modest accommodation for local pioneer Andrew Harkness. The house is also historically significant for its association with industrialist and philanthropist Sir Henry Gepp and his association with a canary island palm on the property. The home is near the Kangaroo Ground War Memorial Park and affords a view extending to Kinglake.A building which accommodated the Evelyn Observer newspaper was built on top of a local hill about 1874. After the transfer of the newspaper to an office in Hurstbridge, Eltham Shire Council purchased the property. It was subsequently used as the building for the Eltham Shire Offices. It was destroyed in a fire in 1934.In 1892 the Kangaroo Ground Fire Brigade was formed. Members have fought in a number of fires including the Black Saturday bushfires. In 1980 a new station was built. It has been extended a number of times since. In 2017 it had about 70 members.In 1964 local families established the Kangaroo Ground Pony Club. In 1988 land was purchased which was developed into an equestrian facility of six arenas, a mount rig, a cross country course, sheds and clubhouse. Kangaroo Ground Adult Riders also ride on these grounds.