Alberton is a metropolitan suburb in Adelaide, South Australia, about 20 minutes drive from the city. Part of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield, it is bordered by the suburbs of Rosewater, Queenstown, Cheltenham and Port Adelaide.
History
Alberton, like Port Adelaide, is rich in historical significance. On 7 March 1839, the South Australian Company was granted private subdivision of preliminary section 423. Section 423 was sold as 'The Town of Albert' and subsequently became 'Albert Town' after Prince Albert, Prince Consort of Queen Victoria. Eventually, 'Alberton' became commonly used and around the turn of the century was officially adopted as the suburb's name.
With demand for workers at the Port and homes for these workers needed, late in 1840 there were already 61 houses and 235 residents in Alberton. The layout of 'Albert Town' originally had provisions for four public squares, two of which still exist. St Georges' Square became the site for the Anglican Church while St Andrew's Square was later subdivided and became the site of the Trinity Uniting Church. St Patrick's Square and Company Square are today still used as public recreation areas (Couper-Smartt, 2003).
Many of the streets in Alberton took the names of the original purchasers while others, such as 'Prince', 'Queen' and 'King' Streets reflect their English heritage.
Alberton Post Office opened on 1 January 1855.
Sport
Alberton is home to Australian rules football team Port Adelaide, who participate in the national Australian Football League (AFL) and the Adelaide-based South Australian National Football League (SANFL).
Landmarks
Alberton Oval is located on Queen Street. The ground is used for Australian rules football and cricket and has a capacity of 15,000 people with seated grandstands holding 2,000.
Alberton Oval is the training and administration base for the Port Adelaide Football Club.
Alberton Hotel
First licensed in 1848, the Alberton Hotel is one of the oldest hotels in South Australia. For the past 60 years, it has been owned and operated by the Brien family. The old bluestone structure still stands at the same spot on the corner of Port Road and Sussex Street.
Former Alberton Cemetery
Located on Parker Street, the former Alberton Cemetery was opened in 1847 and officially closed in 1874, with the last burial being conducted in 1922. In 1994, the land on which the former cemetery was located was converted into a park by the City of Port Adelaide.
Transport
Alberton railway station was one of the first local stations to open in South Australia. The railway from Adelaide to Port Adelaide was constructed in 1856 and was the first line to be built in South Australia. Alberton was one of the original stops, the others being Woodville and Bowden.
The stone and brick building on the Port Adelaide-bound platform is the original station building dating from 1856.
There is still a regular train service from Alberton station to Adelaide and Outer Harbor. Unfortunately the ticket office has been closed for the past twenty years and this contributes to the station buildings being a frequent target for vandalism and graffiti.
Politics
Alberton and the greater Port Adelaide area has always been strong Labor Party territory.
Local
Alberton has always been a central part of the Port Adelaide Council which merged with Enfield Council in 1996 to become the City of Port Adelaide Enfield. The current Mayor of the council, Gary Johanson, has held the position since 2006.
State
Alberton lies in the newly created seat of Cheltenham (formerly Price). Price was represented by Murray De Laine from 1985 until 2002. However, De Laine lost preselection in 2002 and ran as an independent, losing to the Labor candidate, Jay Weatherill.
Alberton is within the safe Labor seat of Port Adelaide, which has been represented by Rod Sawford since 1988. The seat was created in 1949 and has only had four members since, all Labor. At the 2004 election, Sawford won the seat by a margin of 16% despite suffering a 3% swing against him.