Pascoe Vale was named after John Fawkner's property "Pascoeville", which was originally a holding of 709 acres (2.87 km2).[2] The property, established in 1839, was bounded by the Moonee Ponds Creek to the west, Gaffney Street to the south, Northumberland Road to the east and Rhodes Parade to the north. John Pascoe Fawkner built a timber house overlooking the creek, in the Marie Street area of Oak Park.
Pascoe Vale Post Office opened on 25 September 1911. A Pascoe Vale West Post Office opened in 1927 and closed in 1976.[3]
Pascoe Vale Road in the mid-19th century was originally called Sydney Road. For much of the 19th century, where a fast food chicken outlet in Pascoe Vale Road now exists, was once a Cobb & Co waystation. Ironically, during much of the 20th century, the same location was a chicken farm.
In 1841, Dr Farquhar McCrae, a wealthy surgeon, bought land in Pascoe Vale South, where he built his house in 1842–1843. This house 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.[4]
Several locally significant historic buildings and precincts exist within the suburb, including the Turner Street Precinct and Gavin Park and the Westbreen Creek Precinct, which contain collections of substantially intact inter-War and post-war houses constructed in the 19th century.[5]
Demographics
According to data from the 2021 census, Pascoe Vale recorded a population of 18,171 people. This is slightly more than the recorded number of residents in the 2001 Census Data, where 13,210 people were recorded as living in Pascoe Vale. The suburb has historically been less culturally diverse compared to other suburbs in Merri-bek. A lower proportion of Pascoe Vale residents were born overseas and Pascoe Vale has the highest proportion of Australian-born citizens. 62.3% of people living in Pascoe Vale speak English only at home, which is lower than the metropolitan average, but higher than the average in Merri-bek. Other languages spoken at home included Italian 6.4%, Arabic 3.7%, Greek 3.7%, Mandarin 2.0%, and Turkish 1.9%.
According to the 2021 census, 65.1% of people in Pascoe Vale were born in Australia. Other countries of birth included Italy, which accounted for 3.9% of the population, followed by India 2.9%, England 1.8%, New Zealand 1.5%, and Greece 1.3%.[6]
The most common responses for religion in Pascoe Vale were Catholic 34.1%, no religion, so described 25.4%, not stated 9.6%, Islam 7.7%, and Eastern Orthodox 6.0%. In Pascoe Vale, Christianity was the largest religious group reported overall (56.7%) (this figure excludes not stated responses).
Night Bus951: Brunswick station – Glenroy station via West Coburg (operates Saturday and Sunday mornings only). Operated by Ventura Bus Lines.[13]
Cycling
Arterial cycling access is provided via the Moonee Ponds Creek Trail, Sussex Street, and Gaffney Street. In 2020, VicRoads announced a project to provide safer cycling infrastructure in Pascoe Vale, including upgrades to bicycle lanes and six intersections between Boundary Road and O'Hea Street.[14]
Pascoe Vale is located in the federal electorate of Wills, and is historically a safe Australian Labor Party seat. The electorate has been held by Peter Khalil since 2016.
The seat was held between 1980 and 1992 by former Prime Minister, Bob Hawke. From 1992 to 1996, the seat was held by independent Phil Cleary, the only non-Labor candidate to hold the electorate.
Pascoe Vale is known for its many parks and gardens, including Cole Reserve, Austin Reserve, Kelvin Thomson Reserve and Gavin Park.
The Moonee Ponds Creek is the major stormwater canal in the area and flows through several of its parks and gardens.
Managed by the City of Merri-bek, the Pascoe Vale Swimming Pool, on Prospect Street, is a popular venue during summer.
Cole Park, Pascoe Vale, December 2022
Cuisine
IGA store at Pascoe Vale
Pascoe Vale accommodates several cafés, restaurants, bakeries and takeaway shops, which are largely located in neighbourhood centres at Pascoe Vale railway station, along Gaffney Street, Kent Road, Cumberland Road, Bell Street and Sussex Street.
Pascoe Vale Cricket Club has been one of the more successful and enduring cricket clubs in the region, having won a number of junior and senior premierships since 1936. Its two A-Grade premierships of 1990/91 and 1991/92 were teams said to have been able to compete on a District Cricket level, such was the talent and ability in the teams, which contained district cricketers of the like of Neil Howard, Bill McGowan and Gus Gilmour.
