Mount Eliza was named in 1836 by Captain William Hobson after Elizabeth Callaghan, the wife of John Batman. Prior to large scale subdivision, Mount Eliza was mainly a location for holiday homes, Mount Eliza Post Office opening on 15 November 1920. This began to change in the early half of the 20th century when many old estates were subdivided. One such subdivision was Ranelagh Estate, designed by Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin in 1924 in tandem with the surveyors Tuxen and Miller.
Mount Eliza is bordered by Kackeraboite Creek, Humphries Road, Moorooduc Highway, Wooralla Drive, the Mornington railway line, Oakbank Road, Manyung Creek and Port Phillip bay.
The town centre is known as Mount Eliza Village, and is the main shopping area for the suburb. Situated at the corner of Canadian Bay Road and Mount Eliza Way, the village is a bustling centre of activity and is well served by many businesses, including all four major banks. Two major supermarkets, can be found along with many specialty shops.
There are many sporting clubs in Mount Eliza, but most notably is the Mount Eliza Football Club competing in the Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League which has produced many AFL players. There is also Mt Eliza Cricket Club which is one of the most successful Cricket Clubs on the Mornington Peninsula. During the 1980s the Club was heralded as the largest cricket club in Australia with 9 Senior teams and 8 Junior teams.
Schools in Mt. Eliza include Kunyung Primary School, The Peninsula School, Toorak College, Mount Eliza Secondary College, Mt. Eliza Primary School, Mt. Eliza North Primary School, St. Thomas Moore Catholic Primary School and the Mt. Eliza / Melbourne University Business School.
Mount Eliza is served by two major roadways, the Nepean Highway and Moorooduc Highway. The bus routes 781 , 784 , 785 and 788 pass through the main shopping strip of the suburb.
The Mt Eliza executive retreat was an opulent Victorian residence with splendid gardens and vineyard built for the English pastoralist,
James Grice and his family. This photo was taken in 1888, with the site now belonging to the Mt Eliza business school.
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