Glenunga Adelaide, South Australia |
|||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Coordinates | 34°57′04″S 138°38′20″E / 34.951°S 138.639°ECoordinates: 34°57′04″S 138°38′20″E / 34.951°S 138.639°E | ||||||||||||
Population | 1,869 (2006 census) | ||||||||||||
Established | 1860 | ||||||||||||
Postcode(s) | 5064 | ||||||||||||
Location | 5 km (3 mi) southeast of Adelaide | ||||||||||||
LGA(s) | City of Burnside | ||||||||||||
State electorate(s) | Unley | ||||||||||||
Federal Division(s) | Sturt | ||||||||||||
|
Glenunga is a small southern suburb of 2,539 people in the South Australian city of Adelaide. It is located five kilometres southeast of the Adelaide city centre. The name Glenunga is taken from an Aboriginal language "unga" meaning near and "glen" because of its proximity to Glen Osmand (see Manning's places of South Australia by Geoffrey H. Manning published in 1990). Bounded on the north by Windsor Road, the east by Portrush Road, the south-west by Glen Osmond Road and the west by Conyngham Street, the leafy suburb forms a rough triangular layout. It is close by to other Burnside council suburbs of Toorak Gardens and Glenside.
Glenunga, along with its neighbouring suburb of Glenside were once known by the name of 'Knoxville'. The first European settlers of the area (in the 1840s) took up farming, and wheat grown in the area was awarded first prize in the Royal Adelaide Show. The area now taken up by Glenunga International High School and Webb Oval, were previously home to slaughterhouses established in the 19th century. At one point, the slaughterhouses were exporting overseas and at the same time providing half of Adelaide's lamb requirements.
A number of coach companies, notably those of William Rounsevell, Cobb & Co and John Hill were set up in the 1870s and 1880s. Up to 1,000 horses grazed the land. At this point, most of the streets were beginning to be named. Most were named by the inhabitants at the time, usually in reference to their original homes in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the United States. However, one street was named after an Aboriginal word - "Allinga", meaning sun.