North Geelong is a suburb of Geelong in the Australian state of Victoria. The suburb was bypassed by traffic from Melbourne coming from the Princes Freeway by the creation of the Geelong Ring Road, which was complete in 2009. At the , North Geelong had a population of 2,966. The head office of Australian department store, Target, founded in Geelong in 1925 is located on Thompson Road, next door to the former Geelong Golf Club and is no longer there. The suburb has an Australian rules football team competing in the Geelong & District Football League and a Croatian association football team North Geelong Warriors FC that are currently competing in the National Premier Leagues Victoria History From 1858 to 1971 a gasworks was operated by the Geelong Gas Company on a site on Victoria and Douro Streets with a connecting rail to the Geelong Ports. The current Post Office opened in 1987. An earlier office dating from 1886 was replaced by Rippleside in 1986. Osborne House was built on the shores of Corio Bay in 1858 as a private residence, later being used by the Royal Australian Navy, local council officers, and is currently the home of the Geelong Maritime Museum. In the 1950s through to the early 1970s the suburb saw a drastic increase in housing construction, in part fuelled by Geelong's growing industries and manufacturing sector. In 1973, the Victoria Street level crossing adjacent to the southern end of the station was replaced by a road overpass, known as the Margaret Street overpass, and a pedestrian underpass. In 1976, both platforms were extended by over 60 metres. The main station building on Platform 1 was replaced on 8 August 1990, and in 2008 the smaller building on Platform 2 was replaced by a metal shelter. In 1998 hotel owner Paul Ramia erected a 15m-high polystyrene replica of the Great Sphinx of Giza atop his hotel, known as the Sphinx Hotel. In Fyansford Cement Works Railway, originally opened in 1918, was removed in the early 2000s after the cement works closure in 2000. The train lines removal helped ease growing congestion on Thompson Road, and reduced noise pollution for local residents. Prior to its removal, a bike and pedestrian path, known as Linear Park, was constructed in the 1980s alongside the rail line. In 2012 Bayside Demolition started operating from the federal mills and has since become Geelong's