South Morang is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 21 km north-east of Melbourne's central business district.
South Morang is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 21 km north-east of Melbourne's central business district. Its local government area is the City of Whittlesea. At the 2016 Census, South Morang had a population of 24,060.
Originally known as Morang South, South Morang grew from a country area on the outskirts of Melbourne in the late 1990s/early 2000s to a suburban area with new estates being developed.
History
Before the arrival of European explorers and farmers, the area now called South Morang was inhabited by the Wurundjeri balug and Wurundjeri Willam clans. In 1824, William Hovell and Hamilton Hume were the first Europeans to set foot in what is now the City of Whittlesea when they were going from Sydney to Port Philip Bay. On 14 December 1824, they wrote in their journals:
Having passed through the first plain... myself and Mr Hume ascended a high but single hill. In front from which we saw a very gratifying sight. This was a very extensive plain extending from west to south east for several miles with patches of forest which appear to separate one plain from another. But the whole appeared in front, say south, to be level but in parts in the plains some hills arose of a conical shape, with only here and there a few trees upon them. And all the soil of best quality.The description showed that the land was good for farming, and it was settled by John Batman's pastoral group in the 1830s. Robert Hoddle surveyed the land in 1837. The land failed to sell at first and was opened to pastoral leases. It was leased by William Forlonge in 1846. By 1840, the area was owned by rich landowners. By the 1850s, the area was used for farming. Much evidence of the farming, such as dry stone walls, can still be seen today. In 1852, William Ford Cleeland bought 256 hectares and sundivided and sold the land, doubling his money. Individual land holdings have decreased in size over time.Morang South Post Office opened on 24 November 1873. The post office has now moved to Westfield Plenty Valley.The railway from Melbourne to here was finished in 1889. The old South Morang railway station served the Whittlesea steam railway line until the 1950s. It was further north than the current station.
Weather
Things to do
South Morang's ethnically diverse surrounding suburbs (such as Mill Park and Epping) have added to its ethnic diversity as residents of those suburbs move to South Morang.
The most common ancestries in South Morang (According to the 2016 census) were Australian born 17.0%, English 16.3%, Italian 12.8%, Indian 6.2% and Macedonian 5.4%.
South Morang is also home to many sites of historical and cultural significance and figures, such as Farm Vigano and Le Page Homestead at Plenty Gorge ParkThe Lakes South Morang P-9 School opened in 2007.