the Port Phillip District Charles La Trobe as a reason to expel all Aboriginal camps from Melbourne on 19 April 1840. Originally, Elwood was swampland, with Elster Creek draining into the swamp near the beach. For most of the 19th century the wetland was viewed as a barrier to European development. Elwood Canal was constructed to connect the lower reaches of Elster Creek with Port Phillip Bay, three hundred metres north of Point Ormond. European settlement used waterways like Ester Creek for waste disposal. In 1869, because of the foul conditions of the Elwood swamp, local residents called on the St Kilda Council to remove the nearby abattoir and night soil depot. Installation of the Elwood Canal turned Elwood into an area suitable for residential development. Elwood was initially planned around the two central geographic features of Elster Creek (now Elwood Canal) and the promontory at Point Ormond, then known as Little Red Bluff. Originally a working middle class suburb in the early part of the 20th century, Elwood has seen waves of gentrification and is now one of Melbourne's most sought after bayside suburb. Large period houses, many from the 1920s and 30s with art deco touches, along with proximity to beach and foreshore, have made the area very attractive. In the late 1970s, like nearby St Kilda, Elwood was known for its nightlife and developed a reputation as a cabaret area. Many of these venues operated out of some of the suburb's quirkier old buildings. As the scene saw a demise in the early 1980s, many buildings, including Maison de Luxe and Moulin Rouge (which operated out of the 1880s mansion "Pladda" built for Captain A. Currie), were subsequently demolished. Despite its history of adversity, a modern suburb now thrives by the bay in one of Melbourne's most prized locations. Café life in the Elwood village seems a long way from the flood, fire and fever of earlier days. Coloured lorikeets flock to the green corridors of shady trees, a native forest has been planted on the foreshore and the once despised canal area is undergoing rejuvenation as a haven for walkers and cyclists. Population In the 2016 Census, there were 15,543 people in Elwood. 65.0% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were England 4.9%, New Zealand 2.8%, Ireland 1.1%, United States of America 1.1% and India 1.1%. 76.6% of people