In 2020, Time Out readers voted Yarraville the fifth-coolest neighbourhood in the world. This was back when the phrase IYKYK (if you know, you know) was doing the rounds, and Yarraville was Melbourne’s shining example. Nearby Seddon, on the other hand, was less If You Know, You Know and more As Far As I Know ... It’s Somewhere in the West?

Though it shares a border with an apparently world-famous suburb, Seddon is one of those places like Cremorne or Travancore or Deepdene that might as well be a suburb of Narnia. You’re not quite sure it’s real until you visit it yourself.

This obscurity is partly due to size. At less than one square kilometre in area, it’s easy for lifelong Melburnians never to twig to its existence, despite its proximity to the CBD. From my house, I can see the sun gleaming on the windows of skyscrapers, and on New Year’s Eve, we have a front-row view of fireworks.

The contested history of Seddon might help explain why outsiders aren’t sure if it’s not just a fiction. For most of the past century, only locals described the area as its own suburb, and some still promote a misconception around its origins.

The myth dates back to 1906, when a name was sought for a new train station between Footscray and Yarraville. While this southern part of Footscray was at the time known locally as Belgravia, this was........

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