Box Hill is a pretty good middle-class eastern area of larger Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. Via the freeway it is fourteen kms from the central business district of Melbourne. The current municipality of Box Hill has an established population of just under 12 000 people. For administrative functions, Box Hill is currently part of the City of Whitehorse.
Before the arrival of Europeans the region had been the location of the Wurundjeri Aboriginal people. The first European land owner was Arundel Wrighte whom took up a pastoral contract for the land in 1938. Box Hill was initially formally proclaimed a city in 1927 with it rising in the following century into their own city. In 1871, the inhabitants of the township was 154 and was mostly orchards, vineyards along with other blended kinds of farming. During this time the township became a key market centre for the fruit and vegetables that were grown in the area back then. Box Hill was assimilated into greater Melbourne in the 50's included in the eastward continuing development of Melbourne. The specific term of Box Hill was picked at the gathering in 1860 of local people submitted a number of popular place names. A contest took place and won by a local store owner, Silas Padgham, who was later the first postmaster of the area. Silas was born in Box Hill in Surrey, England, so this end up being the name for the new town.
Today, Box Hill is recognized for its large Chinese community with over 65% of people not being born in Australia. Box Hill has also Melbourne’s tallest high-rise buildings outside of the CBD and due to this is often identified as Melbourne's second metropolis. It has today become a major transportation centre for the eastern and surrounding suburbs with among the busiest suburban train and bus stations. It has a major hospital that first started out in 1956 along with a significant shopping area. The place is served by 3 high schools and a TAFE together with quite a few primary schools and pre-schools.
A large landmark within Box Hill would be the old Surrey Dive which has been a well-known swimming area. It was never ever a real lake, but a hole that was dug up to provide clay for the brick factory nearby, beginning in 1880 that was filled up with water. You'll find several unsubstantiated gossip and accounts around drownings in the Dive. Surrey Dive was developed at the time into amongst Australia's top swimming competition venues. It was used for competition until the 1930s, when a swimming pool ended up being developed next to the Dive. The remains of the brickworks continue to exist however has not used for a very long time and has end up being the victom of graffiti spammers and vandals recently. Due to this it's now fenced off and decaying. The massive smokestack still cast a shadow on the dive. The Dive is now a decorative lake and also the home for a model boat club. The Dive is not useful for swimming. The old brickworks is a protected heritage site.
