The Canberra suburbs that don't exist anymore, from Blandfordia to Westlake

What if the Kingston Foreshore was actually named The Eastlake Foreshore? And instead of living in Barton, you lived in Telopea? While some of Walter Burley Griffin's original suburb names stuck, others were swept aside or used in very different ways across the capital.

Between 1913 and 1920, Griffin laid out the apex of suburbs and streets that would form the heart of our city. But in 1927, the suburbs were renamed to honour the leaders of Australian federation.

Here are some of the suburb names Griffin dreamed of that simply don't exist anymore.

Blandfordia (Forrest)

Blandfordia was one of the earliest suburbs in Canberra, built to the original plans. Named after the Christmas Bell, a flowering plant native to eastern Australia, it was gazetted as a suburb in 1928.

Its circular streets were classic Burley Griffin design and its elegant tree-lined avenues and stately homes were - and still are among the most coveted in the ACT.

The original residents of Blandfordia were mostly senior public servants who moved in when Federal Parliament finally moved from Melbourne to Canberra. Blandfordia is now simply a part of the suburb of Forrest.

Eastlake (Kingston)

During the initial stages of Canberra's formation, the region known as Kingston was ‘Eastlake’. The district of Eastlake was originally used as housing for blue collar works, specifically labourers who had been brought in to build the infrastructure Australia's capital city.

The neighbouring suburb of Forrest (Blandfordia) was set aside for more 'upper class' public servants of middle and higher ranks. 

The Eastlake Football and Cricket Club that still exists in Manuka stands as a memory of Canberra's foundation. 

Westlake (Yarralumla) 

Westlake, now a ghost town, was once a thriving suburb that existed in Canberra from 1922 to 1965. Located on the outskirts of Yarralumla, the site where Westlake once existed is now surrounded by embassies and bushland. 

Westlake was composed of tradesmen and their families, who came to Canberra to build the capital's first buildings (among them the Sydney and Melbourne buildings). Original housing consisted of tents and a community hall, but was soon followed by 61 temporary cottages.

Nearby, around 20 timber huts were built for the single men, and this area was known as the Hostel Camp.

All of the original Westlake cottages were eventually sold off one by one or taken away on the backs of trucks, with the last cottage removed in 1965. A number are now over the border in Queanbeyan and one sits with a new coat of paint in River Street, Oaks Estate.

At its peak, the Westlake area had 700 residents and remnants of original buildings can be found on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin today. 

The Causeway (Kingston) 

The Causeway is still a small district within the suburb of Kingston, adjacent to Kingston Foreshore, but was once a much larger community. It was originally planned by Burley Griffin to be parallel to a dam across the Molonglo River, but this never transpired. 

The earliest housing at The Causeway consisted of modest cottages. Around 120 timber cottages were constructed at The Causeway between 1925 and 1926, to accommodate construction workers. 

After WWII, housing at The Causeway and Westlake was considered sub-standard and the wooden cottages were wrapped with brick veneer. Despite major redevelopments of the Kingston Foreshore in recent years, a close-knit community of residents still lives at The Causeway. 

Telopea Park (Barton) 

Today, we know Telopea Park as home to one the oldest parks and schools in Canberra. Named after the floral emblem of NSW, Telopea Park was planned at the end of Sydney Avenue by Walter Burley Griffin and originally described the whole area now known as Barton.

While the suburb itself was established in 1922, it was renamed Barton in 1928 when Sir Edmund Barton was named the first Prime Minister of Australia. The original plans for the area included a parkland full of waratahs (botanical name Telopea). The plans never eventuated, but the name Telopea stuck.