Best 76 Real Estate Agents In Coburg [2025]

Coburg Suburb Overview

Coburg is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 8 km north from Melbourne’s central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Moreland, although a handful of properties on Coburg’s eastern boundary are located in the City of Darebin. At the 2011 Census, Coburg had a population of 24,977.

Coburg’s boundaries are Gaffney Street and Murray Road in the north, Elizabeth Street and Merri Creek in the east, Moreland Road in the South and Melville Road, Devon Avenue, Sussex Street and West Street in the west. Coburg is designated one of 26 Principal Activity Centres in the Melbourne 2030 Metropolitan Strategy.

According to the 2011 census, 24,977 people live in Coburg, an increase over the 2006 census figure of 23,722 people. The 2011 census found that 47.2% of households speak two or more languages at home, compared to the national average of 20.4%. The census found 60.3% of people were born in Australia compared to the national average of 69.8%.

At the 2011 census, top responses for religious affiliation were Catholic 32.2%, No Religion 24.8%, Eastern Orthodox 10.3%, Islam 8.4% and Anglican 4.1%.

Prior to European occupation, the area around Coburg and Merri Creek was occupied by the Woiwurrung speaking Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. The Wurundjeri had a religious relationship to their land, participating in corroborees and sacred ceremonies on Merri Creek.

Coburg was first surveyed by Robert Hoddle in 1837 – 1838, and he recorded that a Mr Hyatt had a sheep station and hut on the east bank of the Merri Creek, near present Outlook Road. Hoddle marked out a 327 acre village reserve with two roads for the district: Bell Street West and Pentridge Road, later called Sydney Road. In 1840 the place was named Pentridge by a surveyor called Henry Foot who lived and worked near Merri Creek. It was named after the birthplace of Foot’s wife: Pentridge, Dorset, England.

Dr Farquhar McCrae, a wealthy surgeon, purchased 600 acres in the area which he called Moreland. In 1841 he also bought land called ‘La Rose’ in what is now known as Pascoe Vale South. The house he built in 1842 or 1843 is now known as Wentworth House, and is the oldest known private dwelling in Victoria still standing on its original site and the fifth oldest building in Victoria.

In 1842 the first inn, The Golden Fleece, was built on Sydney Road just north of Page Street. Twenty one farms were in the area by 1849. With the Victorian gold rush in the 1850s the population of the area grew rapidly. In 1858 water mains from Yan Yean were connected and the first local paper, the Brunswick and Pentridge Press, was started. In 1859 the Pentridge District Road Board was formed to get roads built in the area, the start of local government for the area.

Quarrying of bluestone began in the area 1850s, and by 1875 there were 41 quarries in Coburg. In December 1850 16 prisoners were moved from an overcrowded Melbourne Gaol to a stockade at Pentridge. Prisoners at what came to be called HM Prison Pentridge were immediately put on “hard labour” by breaking up bluestone for road surfaces. In 1867 a public meeting was called to change the name of the district, as residents were stigmatised and embarrassed at living in a suburb principally known for its gaol, Pentridge Prison. Robert Mailer of Glencairn suggested that the suburb name be changed to Coburg, inspired by the impending visit to the colony of the Duke of Edinburgh, who was a member of the royal house of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. The government agreed with the proposal and the change was made in March 1870.

The Post Office opened on 1 August 1853 and was renamed Coburg in January 1870.

Sydney Road attracted numerous hotels and commercial premises in the 1860s. Friendly societies soon formed: Manchester Unity, Druids, Rechabites and a St. Patrick’s Society in. Coburg later became a Shire in 1875.

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