Box Hill is an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, east of the city's Central Business District (CBD), located within the City of Whitehorse local government area. Box Hill recorded a population of 14,353 at the 2021 census.

Founded as a township in the 1850s, Box Hill has grown over the following century into a small city with its own central business district (CBD). It formed the centre of the former local government of the City of Box Hill which had its own suburbs, including Box Hill North and Box Hill South. In the 1950s, Box Hill was absorbed into Melbourne as part of its eastward expansion.

Today, Box Hill is notable for its large Chinese community, having the largest percentage of individuals of Chinese heritage in Melbourne (the 2021 census recorded 46.6% of the suburb's residents as having Chinese ancestry), and is home to the city's tallest high-rise buildings outside the CBD.

A major transport hub for Melbourne's eastern suburbs, Box Hill is home to one of the city's busiest train stations, located beneath Box Hill Central. It is also served by the route 109 tram and numerous bus routes.

History Pre-European settlement The Wurundjeri Woiwurrung people lived in the area now called Box Hill for many thousands of years. They used the many creeks in the area as a source of food and water, including Bushy Creek in the north.

19th century

Box Hill was first settled by the squatter Arundel Wrighte, formerly of Van Diemen's Land, who, in 1838 took up a pastoral lease on the land he had previously explored in the Bushy Creek area. The first permanent settlers, Thomas Toogood and his wife Edith, purchased in 1841 and Wrighte built a house on his property, "Marionvale", in 1844. The Pioneers' Memorial, which can be found in front of the town hall, is made from a chimney stone, taken from Wrighte's original house. It was not until after 1850, however, that Crown lands were subdivided and sold. Traffic along a main road running through the district encouraged the building of a hotel at Box Hill in 1853. Its owner named it the White Horse hotel and the name was bestowed on the road. Box Hill Post Office opened on 1 February 1861, being the first official use of the name. The postmaster, Silas Padgham proposed the name, derived from Box Hill, Surrey, England, near his birthplace.

In 1871, Box Hill township's population was 154 and the district relied on orchards, vineyards and mixed farming. The extension of the railway line from Camberwell to Lilydale in 1882 included a station at Box Hill, but there were also stations at Canterbury and Surrey Hills, to the west. They attracted subdivisions and development ahead of Box Hill. Growth came, though, with a school opening in Box Hill in 1887, then known as State School 2838. The town became the seat of the Nunawading Shire Council, which met at the Box Hill Courthouse.

In the mid-1880s, Box Hill became a favoured area for landscape artists who wanted to paint the Australian bush en plein air. These artists, among them Arthur Streeton, Tom Roberts and Frederick McCubbin, established the Box Hill artists' camp, and formed what would become known as the Heidelberg School, the first distinctively Australian movement in Western art.

20th century

Unlike suburbs closer to Melbourne, Box Hill lacked the web of tramlines, which promoted residential development beyond the reach of the railway line. In 1916–17, tramlines reached the western edge of what in a short time would be the Box Hill Municipality, at Burwood, Mont Albert and Wattle Park. The years after World War I saw Box Hill's turn for residential growth. A girls' technical school was built in 1924 and a boys' high school in 1930. During World War II a boys' technical school was opened.

The new town hall on Whitehorse Road opened in April 1935. One of the arguments for its construction was that "the boon it would prove to the local brickworks, which had just resumed production after a period of suspension".

The Box Hill Presbyterian (now Uniting) Church building was originally the West Melbourne Presbyterian Church built 1867 on the corner of Lonsdale and William Streets; a final service was held on 3 February 1935, following which the building was dismantled and re-erected on its present site, being opened in late 1935.

After the end of the Second World War, Box Hill was suburbanised, but Box Hill South and Box Hill North remained comparatively undeveloped.

Post-war development

Post-war housing expansion included a Housing Commission estate in Box Hill South. A district hospital opened in 1956. The shopping area enjoyed growth and prosperity which placed a significant strain upon its parking infrastructure by the end of the 1950s.

In 1954, the Melbourne & Metropolitan Board of Works designated Box Hill as one of five district centres for metropolitan Melbourne. In addition to the shopping centre, the Box Hill TAFE and several office buildings have strengthened its centrality in the region. Apart from commercial functions there are large reserves, with ovals in three directions, about a kilometre from Box Hill Central. Box Hill South lies between Canterbury Road and Burwood East, about two kilometres square. Its proximity to trams was better than Box Hill North's and its residential growth was substantially pre- and early post-war. The Box Hill Golf Club is nearby and a linear park continues along Gardiners Creek. There have also been church-run or affiliated educational institutions, such as Kingswood College, Christian Brothers' Teachers' College and St. Leo's College (1952 and 1957).

In 1971, a sister city relationship was forged with Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. "Box Hill" is the name of a department store in Matsudo (:ja:ボックスヒル).

Box Hill City was amalgamated with Nunawading City on 15 December 1994, to form Whitehorse City, renewing the boundaries that began with the Nunawading Parish and subsequent Shire.

21st century More recently, Box Hill has experienced a construction boom, and is now home to high-rise buildings. These include the Australian Taxation Office's Box Hill Tower, the Whitehorse Towers and the 36-storey Sky One, standing at 122 metres tall, which is the tallest building outside central Melbourne. More high-rises are under construction, including New Chinatown, a $450 million twin tower project which will serve as a modern "sibling" of the historic Chinatown in the CBD, with this development to consist of 10,000 square metres of mixed-purpose storefronts over three levels, a 4000-square-metre “Hawker Hall” containing street-style food stalls, a 1500-square-metre childcare centre, a Chinese language school and bookshop, Chinese herbalists, and a handful of Chinese and Western medicine clinics.

Geography Urban structure

Box Hill has a large central core that serves as one of the largest metropolitan centres outside of the Melbourne central business district. It has been a designated major centre in state and local planning documents since 1954, designed to serve as the main retail and commercial hub of Melbourne's eastern suburbs.

Box Hill railway station forms the core of the central area. Taller residential and commercial buildings are clustered around this area which is surrounded on three sides by major roads. Through 2015 to the present, new taller residential buildings have been constructed on the north side of Whitehorse Road adjacent to Box Hill Gardens, including state and Commonwealth government offices.

Landmarks Box Hill has a large shopping district, primarily concentrated along Station Street and Whitehorse Road and the two Box Hill Central shopping centres. Other smaller centres are located on Whitehorse Road near Middleborough Road and Station Street near Canterbury Road. In late 2007, the two shopping centres merged as a part of a large-scale redevelopment project of the precincts. They are now known as buildings "South" (Formerly Central Box Hill) and "North" (formerly Central Whitehorse,) or "Box Hill Central", which further hosts the Box Hill Railway Station, and a bus interchange.

The Box Hill Hospital serves surrounding suburbs together with Epworth Eastern, a private hospital, which opened in 2005 in the same precinct. The Box Hill Library, part of the Whitehorse Manningham Regional Library Corporation, is a local government-funded library located near Box Hill Town Hall.

Heritage listings The following places in Box Hill are listed on the Victorian Heritage Register: Box Hill Cemetery Columbarium and Myer Memorial, at 395 Middleborough Rd Standard Brickworks, at 14 Federation St Willis Pipe Organ in the Wesley Uniting Church, at 8 Oxford St Woodhouse Grove Wesleyan Chapel (former), at 147 Woodhouse Grove

Parks and gardens There are three main open spaces in Box Hill. These are the Box Hill Gardens, Surrey Park and R.H.L. Sparks Reserve. The majority of parks have sporting facilities and fields, including for baseball, archery and Australian football.

There are several smaller parks and gardens throughout the residential areas around the central business district.

Demographics

At the 2021 Australian census, 68.3% of Box Hill residents reported being born overseas, with the most common being China (excludes Taiwan and the SARs; 29.5%), Malaysia (6.4%), India (4.5%), Hong Kong (2.5%), and Vietnam (1.9%). Mandarin Chinese have overtaken English as a language spoken at home at 33.9%, with English being the second most commonly spoken language (32.5%), followed by Cantonese (8.5%), Vietnamese (1.7%), Korean (1.5%), and Hindi (1.3%). Self-described non-religious people made up the largest single group at 50.4% of the population, followed by Catholic (10.2%), Buddhism (9.0%), and Hinduism (4.5%). 9.1% of Box Hill residents did not state their religious affiliation in the census. Compared to Australia as a whole, Box Hill residents are much less likely to be Australian-born, and are more likely to have stated "No Religion" on the census. Within the City of Whitehorse, Box Hill has the largest Chinese-Australian diaspora community, and is one of the most visible Chinese-Australian communities in Australia.

Previously, in the 2016 Australian census, 64.7% of Box Hill residents reported being born in foreign countries, the most common being China (excluding Taiwan and the SARs; 27.6%), Malaysia (4.8%), India (4.2%), Hong Kong (3.0%) and South Korea (1.7%). 36.9% of residents only speak English at home. Mandarin Chinese is the second most commonly spoken language (28.3%), followed by Cantonese (9.8%), Korean (1.7%), Hindi (1.3%) and Vietnamese (1.2%). Self-described non-religious people made up the largest single group at 46.3% of the population, followed by Catholics (13.5%), Buddhists (7.8%) and Anglicans (4.5%). 10.1% of Box Hill residents did not state their religious affiliation in the census. Compared to Australia as a whole, Box Hill residents are much less likely to be Australian-born, and are more likely to have stated "No Religion" on the census.

Transport

Road The central area of the suburb is serviced by three arterial roads: Elgar Road, Whitehorse Road and Station Street. The Eastern Freeway approximately two kilometres north also provides car and truck access into the area.

Public transport

Box Hill is a major public transport hub for the City of Whitehorse and surrounding suburbs. Box Hill railway station is located under Box Hill Central shopping centre and is served by the Belgrave and Lilydale railway lines. The complex also includes a large bus interchange, linking commuters to a broad range of destinations across most Melbourne suburbs.

Tram route 109, which runs along Whitehorse Road, was extended from Union Road, Mont Albert, to Box Hill and opened in May 2003. It runs to Port Melbourne via the city.