Initially part of Albert Park in the district of Woodville, the new suburb of Hendon was laid out in 1921 by Wilkinson, Sands and Wyles Ltd, on part of the land previously owned by the aviator, Harry Butler, who established the adjacent aerodrome there in 1920. Consequently, several streets were named after aircraft. The site of the "Hendon" aerodrome, also known as "Captain Butler's Aerodrome", was compulsorily acquired in July 1922 by the Civil Aviation branch of the Department of Defence, and used as the first "Adelaide Airport". By 1927 the site was becoming inadequate due to the increasing density of surrounding development and the erection of powerlines around its boundaries, so aviation operations were shifted to Parafield. The Commonwealth had originally intended to fund the development of Parafield Aerodrome through the subdivision and sale of the land at Hendon, but with the end of the 1920s economic boom, these plans lapsed and the site remained as a cow pasture. Soon after the outbreak of World War II the still vacant former Hendon aerodrome was one of three sites in South Australia set up as munitions factories. The Hendon factory, used to manufacture small arms ammunition, was serviced by an adjacent railway station located on a spur from the Grange railway line; after the station's closure in 1980, the rail corridor was later reused for the easternmost section of West Lakes Boulevard. By 1947 the entire site of the former munitions factory had been acquired by Philips Electrical Industries. This was a major accomplishment of the Playford Government, with the Hendon site becoming "the company's Australian headquarters, and as such, the country's largest producer of electronic components, and a major centre of technological skills and research". At its peak in the late 1950s the factory employed almost 3,500 skilled workers, mostly women, who were valued for their dexterity and patience. The company's activities were progressively reduced during the 1970s, but one notable feature of the period was the collaboration of the company with the Polish-Australian artist Stan Ostoja-Kotkowski, a pioneer of the use of laser, sound and image technology in art. The Philips factory was finally sold in 1980 to the Emanuel Group of Companies, becoming the "Hendon Industrial Park". Tenants at the site have included the South Australian Film Corporation, which operated the Hendon Studios from 1981 until production moved to new studios at Glenside in 2011.
Groundwater contamination
In 2012 concerns emerged about the pollution of groundwater beneath Hendon and surrounding suburbs, and in May 2012 residents were advised not to use bore water for any purpose. Contaminants including perchloroethene, trichloroethene, dichloroethene and metals in groundwater and soil vapour had been detected, and noted by a consultants' report from 1992, which attributed the pollution to a former munitions manufacturing site on Philips Crescent. The Environment Protection Authority is now "working with site contamination consultants to better characterise the current nature and extent of the contamination, and to ascertain potential risks".
The 2006 Census by the Australian Bureau of Statistics counted 1,117 persons in Hendon on census night. Of these, 46.1% were male and 53.9% were female. The majority of residents are of Australian birth, with other common census responses being Italy South Eastern Europe, England, Poland and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The age distribution of Hendon residents is skewed higher than the greater Australian population. 75.2% of residents were over 25 years in 2006, compared to the Australian average of 66.5%; and 24.8% were younger than 25 years, compared to the Australian average of 33.5%.
