Tootgarook

Tootgarook (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell) is a suburb on the Mornington Peninsula in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Template:Convert south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Shire of Mornington Peninsula local government area. Tootgarook recorded a population of 3,178 at the 2021 census.<ref name=census/> Tootgarook is located within Boonwurrung Country.

History

Tootgarook is an Aboriginal word meaning "Croaking of frogs".<ref>Page 198, The Victorian Historical Magazine, Volumes 28-29, Published:1955, ...Tootgarook, a native name which meant croaking of frogs..</ref> Tootgarook is located within Boonwurrung Country.

The town is named from the pastoral run of J. Purves established adjacent to the west of the Tootgarook Swamp (now Wetland). Purves retained the name as his pre-emptive right.<ref>The Victorian Naturalist (1928-1929) Kitchen Middens by R.A. Keble https://archive.org/stream/VictorianNatura45Fiel/VictorianNatura45Fiel_djvu.txt</ref><ref>Template:Cite news, ...On the following day a much larger and more important sale was conducted on the station of J. Purves, Esq., between Dromana and the pretty little village of Rye, and known as Tootgarook; why or how this remarkable title originated we could not ascertain, further than that its origin is native, and, as we believe a clever native lawyer, and a member of the present Parliament of Victoria was born in the locality, we shall not enquire further. At Tootgarook, which, at this late date in the history of Victoria, is not famous for a very imposing homestead-or indeed in any building that does not require demolishing and rebuilding...</ref>

A Tootgarook Post Office opened in 1858 and was renamed Rye in 1870. A later Tootgarook Post Office opened on 3 April 1956 when some development took place in the suburb, and closed in 1987<ref name="a">Template:Citation</ref>

Today

In the same suburb, but extending to neighbouring suburbs, is the Tootgarook Wetland. This wetland is about 300 hectares in size and supports many rare and endangered species of flora and fauna.Template:Citation needed Most of the wetland is in private ownership and some is vulnerable to development.Template:Citation needed

The local school in the area is Tootgarook Primary School, which currentlyTemplate:When has 203 students.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

See also

• Shire of Flinders – Tootgarook was previously within this former local government area.
• List of places in Victoria (Australia) named from pastoral runs