Westgarthtown is a heritage registered precinct located within the Melbourne suburbs of Thomastown and Lalor, in Victoria, Australia.
History The town was originally known as Neu Mecklenburg, and was established around 1850., ...It might be mentioned that the settlement at Neu Mecklenburg was established by immigrants from Mecklenburg, Saxony, and Silesia, and the assertion is made that the choice; of the name “Neu Mecklenburg” -- did not meet with unanimous hence some; named it “Westgarthtown,” after a Mr. : Westgarth, who had rendered considerable assistance to German immigrants, and 1848 had actually visited Germany in order to induce German prospective emigrants to settle in Victoria. Later, as already stated, the. place was called Thomastown... The name was changed to Westgarthtown in honour of William Westgarth, who sponsored German immigration. The name was still in use up until the First World War, when it became officially regarded as part of Thomastown.Allan, Lyle (1986), Review of R.N. Wuchatsch, Westgarthtown, in Journal of Intercultural Studies, Vol 7 No 1 62-63
Modern day In the 1970s, urban sprawl caught up with the village, and though it is now surrounded by suburban housing, the village is protected by the Victorian Heritage Act.
Significant remaining buildings and sites include:
The Lutheran Church (1856) Westgarthtown Cemetery (1850) Ziebell's Farm Graff's Farm (1873) Siebel's Farm (1860) Maltzahn's Farmhouse Wuchatsch's Farmhouse
Four residential properties in Westgarthtown are listed on the Victorian Heritage Register.
In 2018, Friends of Westgarthtown successfully completed the Museum Accreditation Program. This is a gold-standard program which promotes best practice across all areas of museum management in line with the National Standards for Museums and Galleries.
See also Grovedale, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong also originally known as Germantown. Australian place names changed from German names
References
Further reading Jones, Michael Nature's Plenty: a history of the City of Whittlesea, Sydney, N.S.W. Allen & Unwin, 1992
Wuchatsch, Robert Westgarthtown, the German settlement at Thomastown, 1985
Borrack, John, Lamplight and bluestones : recollections of the Ziebell farm at Thomastown Melbourne, The author, 1998