Westgarthtown, an historic former dairy farming settlement sixteen kilometers north of Melbourne, was established in 1850 by German and Wendish immigrants. Although now located within the residential suburbs of Thomastown and Lalor in the City of Whittlesea, many of Westgarthtown's outstanding bluestone heritage buildings and structures still survive. These include Ziebell's Farmhouse (c.1850-51), Victoria's oldest German immigrant building; a picturesque Lutheran Cemetery (1850); and Australia's oldest operating Lutheran Church (1856).
