Westbourne Park, South Australia

Westbourne Park is an inner southern suburb of the State capital of South Australia, Adelaide. The suburb was named after Westbourne, a village in Sussex, England, and was laid out in 1881.

History
It was originally known as Cottonville and Unley Park. The suburb's borders are Cross Road, Goodwood Road, Grange Road, Sussex Terrace and the Belair train line.

The area was largely built up in the first three decades of the twentieth century, partly due to its proximity to Colonel Light Gardens Tram Line (no longer existent). The tree-lined streets contain a large proportion of houses from this era. These range from Queen Anne and Mock Tudor houses to symmetrical buildings and Californian bungalows built mainly in red brick.

The southern area was first laid out as "homestead blocks" but was not gazetted. It was then known as Cottonville and it is probable that it was named after George W. Cotton, who advocated the division of land into small holdings for "the working man". Much of the land was used as almond orchards.

A Blockers' sports day and picnic was reported in the Register of 13 April 1896 and the Chronicle of 18 April 1896.

The southernmost section around Constance Street to Angas Road was laid out as housing blocks by William Hamilton Sampson and Jessie Sanders in 1921 and was still known as Cottonville.

The northern part was originally a private subdivision of Section 253. The name was formally submitted by the City of Mitcham at a council meeting held in 1945, and to help eliminate superfluous subdivision names, as requested by the Surveyor-General, Cottonville was included. The Westbourne Park Post Office opened on 10 February 1947 but was renamed Hawthorn in 1966.

Transport
Part of the Mitcham Council district, it is approximately 7 kilometres south of the Central Business District and is serviced by the Belair Railway Line, the 200 bus route along Sussex Terrace and bus routes 210, 211, 213, 214, 215. 216, 217 and 218 along Goodwood Road. Westbourne Park Primary School is located at the western boundary of the suburb, fronting on to Goodwood Road.

Politics
Local government: City of Mitcham, Gault Ward

State government: Electoral district of Waite in the SA House of Assembly

Federal government: Seat of Boothby in the SA House of Representatives