Kingston is the oldest and one of the most densely populated suburbs of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. The suburb is named after Charles Cameron Kingston, the former Premier of South Australia and minister in the first Australian Commonwealth Government. It is adjacent to the suburbs of Barton, Fyshwick, Griffith and Manuka. The suburb of Kingston is situated about 4 km from the centre of Canberra.
In the early years of Canberra's development, Eastlake occupied the area now known as Kingston. Eastlake Football and Cricket club is one of the few reminders of Kingston long past. Eastlake was designated as a workers living quarters while the suburb of Forrest was reserved for middle and higher ranking public servants. About 120 portable wooden cottages for construction workers were built at the Causeway in 1925 and 1926. Canberra's first hall for community gatherings and entertainment was at the Causeway where the recreation hall was completed in 1926 with voluntary labour using materials provided by the Federal Capital Commission. After the second world war, housing at the Causeway and Westlake was considered sub-standard. Although all of the original Westlake cottage have been demolished, the Causeway survives with the original temporary wooden cottages now replaced with brick veneer cottages. As it was separated from the rest of the suburb by Wentworth Avenue and was situated to the north of the railway station the Causeway was a distinct district within the suburb of Kingston, however, it is now abutted by the new Kingston foreshore development.
The Causeway is on the edge of a road called the Causeway, which was planned as a dam across the Molonglo River that would back up East Lake, which was planned by Walter Burley Griffin but never built. The cottages at Causeway were designed by HM Rolland and were first erected at Westlake in 1924, then Acton and finally at the Causeway in 1925–1926. The Westlake cottages were sold off from the mid-1950s – last cottage removed in 1965. A number are now in Queanbeyan and down the South Coast. One also sits with a new coat of paint, in River Street, Oaks Estate. A photograph showing one of the cottages on the move is in Westlake One of the Vanished Suburbs of Canberra – Gugler, A. The timber cottages at the Causeway were pulled down. The cottage design, referred to as portable timber cottages, designed by Rolland were based on the cottages erected at Westlake (present site, Block 3, Section 128 Stirling Park, Yarralumla) by Contractor John Howie for his married men – built 1922. He also built nearby 18 or more timber huts for his single men, known as the Hostel Camp. The Burns Club was founded there in 1924.
The following areas are heritage listed:
At the 2021 census, the population of Kingston was 6,579, including 99 (1.5%) Indigenous persons and 2,967 (66.3%) Australian-born persons. 3.0% of dwellings were separate houses (compared to the Australian average of 72.3%), while 6.4% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses (Australian average: 12.6%) and 90.5% were flats, units or apartments (Australian average: 14.2%). 45.0% of the population were professionals, compared to the Australian average of 24.0%. Notably 25.5% worked in central government administration, compared to the Australian average of 1.1% and the ACT-wide average of 17.1%. 51.8% of the population had no religion, compared to the ACT average of 43.5% and the Australian average of 38.4%.
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