Upper Ferntree Gully, Victoria

Upper Ferntree Gully is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 32 km east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Knox and Shire of Yarra Ranges local government areas. Upper Ferntree Gully recorded a population of 3,416 at the 2016 Census.HistoryUpper Ferntree Gully was a farming area in its early days and formed the end of the electric train line from Melbourne. Holiday makers and day trippers would then make their way by various means of transport to holiday and day tripper locations in "the hills". Many Melburnians up to (at least) the 1930s also holidayed in cottages in Upper Ferntree Gully.Coonara House in Willow Road is the oldest building in Upper Ferntree Gully, ahead of The Royal Hotel. Coonara House was the farm house for the farm land that is now Kings Park reserve. Some historic buildings and sites have been lost over the years—including the original Primary School (which was nestled into the National Park, near the current Country Fire Authority station), the tearooms (corner of Rollings Road and Burwood Highway—many original architectural features were lost during renovations in the 1990s), the cycling velodrome (a bitumen track that was located behind St Joseph's College on the border of Upper Ferntree Gully and Ferntree Gully—this was used as part of The Sun newspaper's cycling competition), the Progress Hall (adjacent to Martin's Smash Repairs) and Kayser factory (Rose Street). The old bakery in Rose Street is home to the 1812 Amateur Theatre Group.