Alberton, South Australia

Alberton (34°51′S 138°30′E) 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 surrounding suburbs of Rosewater, Queenstown, Cheltenham and Port Adelaide.

1 History
2 Geography
3 Sport
4 Landmarks
5 Transport
6 Residents
7 Politics
8 Notes
9 References
10 External links

[edit] History

Alberton, like surrounding Port Adelaide, is rich in historical significance. On March 7, 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, Consort To 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 street names in Alberton were taken from the names of the original purchasers and their English heritage. In addition to this, 'Prince', 'Queen' and 'King' Street are inkeeping with the royal English heritage of the area.

[edit] Geography

(to be completed)

[edit] Sport

Alberton is home to AFL team, the Port Adelaide Football Club. Residents of Alberton are passionate supporter's of both the Power (AFL) and the Magpies (SANFL). They are used to success, with the Magpies winning a record 36 premierships in the SANFL and the Power winning their first in 2004, after only 8 years in the AFL.

[edit] Landmarks

Alberton Oval

Alberton Oval is located on Queen St, Alberton. The ground is primarily used for Australian Rules Football 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. The oval also hosts matches for the Port Adelaide Magpies Football Club in the local SANFL competition.

Alberton Hotel

First licenced in 1848, the Alberton Hotel is one of the oldest in South Australia. For the past 60 years, the hotel has been owned and operated by the Brien family. To this day, the old blue stone structure still stands at the same spot on the corner of Port Rd and Sussex St, Alberton.

[edit] Transport

TransAdelaide’s railcars nos. 3109/3110 at Alberton with 13.15 Outer Harbor – Adelaide service on 26 May 2005.

Alberton railway station was one of the first local stations to open in South Australia. The railway from Adelaide to Port Adelaide was constructed in 1856 and was the first line to be built in South Australia. Alberton was one of the original stops (the others were at Woodville and Bowden).

The stone and brick building on the Port Adelaide-bound platform is the original station building dating from 1856.

There is still a regular train service from Alberton station to Adelaide and Outer Harbor. Unfortunately the ticket office has been closed for the past twenty years and this contributes to the station buildings being a frequent target for vandalism and graffiti.

[edit] Residents

(to be completed)

refer here:

http://www.portenf.sa.gov.au/content/show_page.asp?id=98&mode=

[edit] Politics

Alberton, and the greater Port Adelaide area, has always been strong Labor territory.

Local

Alberton has always been a central part of the Port Adelaide Council which merged with Enfield Council in 1996 to become the City of Port Adelaide Enfield. The current Mayor of the council is Fiona Barr who has held the position since 2003.

State

Alberton lies in the newly created seat of Cheltenham (formerly Price}. Price was represented by Murray De Laine from 1985 until 2002. However De Laine lost preselection in 2002 and ran as an independent, losing to the Labor candidate, Jay Weatherill.

Federal

Alberton is within the safe Labor seat of Port Adelaide, which has been represented by Rod Sawford since 1988. The seat was created in 1949 and has only had four members since, all Labor. At the 2004 election, Sawford won the seat by a margin of 16% despite suffering a 3% swing against him.