Tootgarook ( ) is a suburb on the
Mornington Peninsula
The Mornington Peninsula is a peninsula located in the south of Greater Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is surrounded by Port Phillip to the west, Western Port to the east and Bass Strait to the south, and is connected to ...
in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
,
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India
* Victoria (state), a state of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital
* Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, south of Melbourne's
Central Business District
A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...
, located within the
Shire of Mornington Peninsula
The Mornington Peninsula Shire is a local government area in southeastern Metropolitan Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is located to the south of the Melbourne City Centre. It has an area of 724 square kilometres and in June 2018 it had a ...
local government area
A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a federated state, state, province, division (politica ...
. Tootgarook recorded a population of 3,178 at the
2021 census.
[ Tootgarook is located within Boonwurrung Country.
]
History
Tootgarook is an Aboriginal word meaning "Croaking of frogs". Tootgarook is located within Boonwurrung Country.
The town is named from the pastoral run of J. Purves established adjacent to the west of the Tootgarook Swamp (now Wetland). Purves retained the name as his pre-emptive right.
A Tootgarook Post Office opened in 1858 and was renamed Rye
Rye (''Secale cereale'') is a grass grown extensively as a grain, a cover crop and a forage crop. It is grown principally in an area from Eastern and Northern Europe into Russia. It is much more tolerant of cold weather and poor soil than o ...
in 1870. A later Tootgarook Post Office opened on 3 April 1956 when some development took place in the suburb, and closed in 1987
Today
In the same suburb, but extending to neighbouring suburbs, is the Tootgarook Wetland. This wetland is about 300 hectares in size and supports many rare and endangered species of flora and fauna. Most of the wetland is in private ownership and some is vulnerable to development.
The local school in the area is Tootgarook Primary School, which currently has 203 students.
See also
* Shire of Flinders – Tootgarook was previously within this former local government area.
* List of places in Victoria (Australia) named from pastoral runs
References
{{Shire of Mornington Peninsula suburbs
Suburbs of Melbourne
Suburbs of the Shire of Mornington Peninsula