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Westlake in Canberra is a ghost town on the outskirts of Yarralumla, Australian Capital Territory. Westlake used to be a suburb of Canberra from 1922 until 1965. [1] [2] Remnants of constructions and buildings are still visible today.
At its peak it had a population of around 700. In 2014, Pip Buining and Louise Morris [3] created a theatrical event called Anthology celebrating the township. [4] She says "the site is Ngunnawal land, guru bung dhaura (stony ground) a traditional pathway, and from the 1920s was the site of one of the camps created to house the workers building the new city of Canberra. Tents and a hall were erected at Westlake followed by 61 temporary cottages, designed by architect H. M. Rolland and built in 1923, for married tradesmen, and their families, who came to Canberra to build the infrastructure for the new Federal Capital of Australia."
She continues "Westlake was planned and built. Families were moved in, went to work, built friendships, got married, had children, created gardens, held funerals. The temporary suburb became a community. But when it had served its purpose and the workers were no longer required, the houses were sold off one by one and taken away on the backs of trucks. Westlake was erased."
Westlake remains a tourist attraction today. It sits in a picturesque corner of the nation's capital, surrounded by embassies and bush.
Walter Burley Griffin was an American architect and landscape architect. He designed Canberra, Australia's capital city, the New South Wales towns of Griffith and Leeton, and the Sydney suburb of Castlecrag.
Fyshwick is a retail and light industrial suburb of Canberra, Australia, east of the South Canberra district. At the 2016 census, Fyshwick had a population of 56.
The history of Canberra details the development of the city of Canberra from the time before European settlement to the city's planning by the Chicago architect Walter Burley Griffin in collaboration with Marion Mahony Griffin, and its subsequent development to the present day.
The Royal Australian Mint is the national mint of Australia, and the primary production facility for the country’s circulating coins. The mint is a Commonwealth Government entity operating within the portfolio of the Treasury, and is situated in the Australian capital city of Canberra, in the suburb of Deakin. The current facility was opened in 1965 by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
Yarralumla is a large inner south suburb of Canberra, the capital city of Australia. Located approximately 3.5 km (2.2 mi) south-west of the city, Yarralumla extends along the south-west bank of Lake Burley Griffin from Scrivener Dam to Commonwealth Avenue.
Duntroon is a suburb of the city of Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory.
The Royal Canberra Hospital implosion was a failed building implosion that killed one person and injured nine others. The implosion occurred on 13 July 1997, when the city's superseded hospital buildings at Acton Peninsula on Lake Burley Griffin were demolished to make way for the National Museum of Australia.
Kingston is the oldest and one of the most densely populated suburbs of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. The suburb is named after Charles Cameron Kingston, the former Premier of South Australia and minister in the first Australian Commonwealth Government. It is adjacent to the suburbs of Barton, Fyshwick, Griffith and Manuka. The suburb of Kingston is situated about 4 km from the centre of Canberra.
Red Hill is a suburb of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. The suburb is named after the northernmost hill of the ridge to the west of the suburb. The ridge is a reserve and managed as part of the Canberra Nature Park. The hill is an element of the central Canberra design axis.
The Yarralumla brickworks, also known as the Commonwealth Brickworks, was one of the earliest construction projects in Canberra, Australia. It was built in the suburb of Yarralumla to produce the bricks used to build many of Canberra's early buildings. It opened in around 1913 and operated until its closure in 1976. It is known for producing the bricks used to build itself. Narrow gauge goods railway lines for the transportation of bricks linked Yarralumla to some of the major building sites in central Canberra such as Old Parliament House, and the Kingston Power House. No sign of this early Canberra transport system remains today.
Government-owned housing in Canberra and the Australian Capital Territory has a history stemming from the decision to build the National Capital in the bush. In the early years Canberra's housing was entirely government-built and even after private development took over there has been a number of government houses included in almost every new suburb. Typical Canberra public housing is built on a limited number of plans repeated through an area of a suburb, with two or three bedrooms and constructed in unfinished brick veneer. They typically range in size from around 80 m2 to 130 m2. The term Govie is a colloquialism used to describe the typical Canberran government built house.
Gungahlin is a district in the Australian Capital Territory, one of the fastest growing regions in Australia. The district is subdivided into suburbs, sections and blocks. Gungahlin is an Aboriginal word meaning either "white man's house" or "little rocky hill".
The Canberra Golf Club, later known as the Royal Canberra Golf Club, was formed in 1926. Its original grounds were behind the Hotel Canberra on the river flats on both sides of the Molonglo River.
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The Old Canberra Inn is one of the earliest licensed pubs in the Canberra region, Australia. The building pre-dates the city itself. It is located in the present-day suburb of Lyneham.
Headquarters Joint Operations Command (HQJOC) is the Australian Defence Force's (ADF) operational-level headquarters responsible for the command and control of ADF operations worldwide. It was formed from "Headquarters Australian Theatre" (HQAST) in 2004 to reflect the changing internal structure of the ADF and the need to establish a purpose-built, co-located joint headquarters. Since December 2008, it has been based in NSW adjacent to the Kowen district of the Australian Capital Territory. The complex is known as the General John Baker Complex, named after a former Chief of Defence Force who was a strong advocate of joint command and control.
The Australian Capital Territory House of Assembly was the main elected representative body of the Australian Capital Territory between 1975 and 1986, during which time preparation began for the granting of self-government to the Territory. The Assembly had a largely advisory role, with most of the power over the Territory being in the hands of the relevant federal minister.
Lambrigg is an historical property close to Tharwa in the Australian Capital Territory which is listed by the ACT Heritage Council as a place of historical significance. It was the residence of William James Farrer who made a major contribution to the wheat industry by developing a strain of wheat that was resistant to wheat rust. Lambrigg was the site where Farrer conducted his work on genetic selection for his wheat varieties.
The Harmonie German Club is a social club in Canberra, Australia founded and built by German migrants, including the "Jennings Germans", in the early 1960s. In the mid 1960s migrants and their children made up half of Canberra's 80,000 population. Community clubs, including for example those founded by Italian, German and Polish migrants, were recognised as important for welcoming new settlers, providing venues to socialise and reminisce.