government. Location and urban structure The district is a set of contiguous residential suburbs that surround the Woden Town Centre, which includes a major shopping centre, called Westfield Woden, or more commonly known as Woden Plaza. Woden is also home to the tallest building in Canberra, Lovett Tower, which stands at 22 stories. Lovett Tower and a number of other buildings host staff from Australian Government agencies; there is also some light industrial development in the town centre. Within the district are a number of community facilities including the campus of the Canberra College, a secondary school catering to years 11 and 12 (16 – 18 years old); a library, the Woden Youth Centre, and the Canberra Hospital, which is located in the north of the district. Early homesteads In the mid-1920s following World War I, much of the Woden Valley was granted to returned soldiers under the soldier settlement lease scheme. Four of the earliest homesteads established in the valley were Yamba, Yarra Glen, Melrose and Illoura. Yamba. In 1920, Walter Eddison was granted a soldier settlement lease on the Woden Block 132, covering roughly the present-day suburbs of Phillip and Swinger Hill. In 1925, he applied for an additional block and was granted the Woden Block 28A, which extended further south covering the present-day suburbs of Pearce and Torrens. Walter initially continued to live at his property The Oaks in Queanbeyan while farming his new property, but then established his homestead Yamba on the property in 1926 and worked the land with his three sons, Tom, Keith and Jack. In 1929, were withdrawn from block 28A for the construction of the Woden Cemetery (Woden Block 30). Walter's three sons all fought overseas during World War II, and sadly all three were killed and buried overseas. The Yamba homestead was located in the vicinity of present-day 11 Irving Street, Phillip. Eddison Park in Woden is named in honour of the Eddison family. The main north–south arterial road passing to the east of central Woden was named Yamba Drive in honour of the former property. Yarra Glen. Frank Gifford was granted a soldier settler lease on the Woden Block 32 in 1920, and a lease on the adjacent Block 39 in 1922, and named his property Yarra Glenn. In August 1925, the two blocks were merged to become the smaller Block 27A, which extended from the vicinity of the present-day