Suburb Snapshot: Mount Pleasant

The size of Mount Pleasant is approximately 2.2 square kilometres and has seven parks covering nearly 8.9 per cent of total area. The population of Mount Pleasant in 2011 was 2122 people and by the 2016 Census the population was 2219 showing a population growth of 4.6 per cent in the area during that time.

Mount Pleasant is a southern suburb of Ballarat, between the Yarrowee Creek and the Sovereign Hill historical park. Mount Pleasant was a township for Cornish miners and their families in 1853, somewhat removed from the rowdy Ballarat gold diggings and is on rising land, which was the origin of its name.

The Cornish community established a Wesleyan school and a church by 1855, and these remain the nineteenth century centrepieces of the Mount Pleasant district. In 1856 Mount Pleasant became a goldfield itself and a hastily run-up town centre developed. The gold mining receded by 1860, but a permanent population remained.

A new bluestone Wesleyan church was built, taking pressure off the previous structure which had served as a church and school and a government school building was opened in 1874. The Mount Pleasant school (193 pupils, 2014) taught numerous children who became important public figures. They include three judges, an artist, David Davies, poet, Bernard O’Dowd, surgeon and Burma POW, Sir Albert Coates and Major-General Sir Leslie Morshead.

CoreLogic data indicates that the predominant age group in Mount Pleasant is 20-29 years with households in Mount Pleasant being primarily childless couples and are likely to be repaying $1000 – $1399 per month on mortgage repayments, and in general, people in Mount Pleasant work in a professional occupation.

Source: Ballarat Times News Group