[4] There seems to be some conjecture about the origin of the name – some sources record it as being purely descriptive, with the suburb receiving the first rays of the sunrise.

[5] There is some likelihood, however, that it was named by early landholder David Mailer after Mornington, Victoria.

Mornington is the home to several sports grounds and teams, and was the site of New Zealand's first golf course, opened in 1872.

Montecillo, the city's home for war veterans, was moved from Eglinton Road to South Dunedin in the 1990s.

Immediately above Montecillo ground is Unity Park, which is a venue for Mornington Football (soccer) club.

Unity Park affords panoramic views across the central city, and is the site of a statue of Antarctic explorer Admiral Richard Byrd, commemorating the 1928 departure for the southern continent from Dunedin by Byrd's 1928 expedition[7] Landmarks within Mornington include the suburb's former post office in Mailer Street, a distinctive building completed in 1905 with small a mock-Byzantine domed tower above the entrance.