Map of Dandenong between 1854 and 1863

Map of Dandenong between 1854 and 1863, This map shows the original extent of the Police Paddocks (Natice Police Corps Reserve) extending to Gladstone Road on the west side, before it was reduced back to Stud Road.

Image courtesy of State Library Victoria

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Douglas St Noble Park.circa 1925

Douglas St Noble Park.circa 1925

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Lonsdale Street, No specific date provided, Before WWI

Lonsdale Street, No specific date provided, Before WWI

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Merlin Hospital on the corner of Wilson and Langhorne Streets.

Merlin Private Hospital,was on the corner of Wilson and Langhorne Streets was still operating in 1939. It returned to being a private residence in 1944 and the building still survives.

Miss Matilda Shaw’s school for young ladies opened in 1874,in the house now known as Laurel Lodge, which she rented. In 1884 she had her own house built,further up the road, ‘Merlin’, at the corner of Langhorne and Wilson Streets and moved her school there.

At one stage, the school had 20 lady boarders. Both houses still survive. Miss Shaw kept her school going for a total of 19 years, closing the school in 1889 when she married. The school had a good reputation and was mentioned in the book Victoria and its Metropolis (Sutherland,1888:)

Image supplied by Annette Wiadrowski'

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Dandenong Girls' High School, 23 Ann St, Dandenong.

The former Dandenong Girls High School, initially situated at the former site of the Eclarte tweed mill on Princes Highway, was built as a girls high school in 1957 with the motto, Above Renown, and the Olympic Torch as its logo..

The School opened in 1957, though the buildings were not completed until 1959. It opened because of overcrowding of Dandenong High School and was situated on an eight-acre site, fronting Ann, David and Cleeland Streets.  Later the school would include boys, and in more recent times it was re-named Cleeland Secondary College. The school was also known as Dandenong Girl's Secondary School, Dandenong North High School and Cleeland High School at various times in it's history.

In 2007 Cleeland Secondary College along with Doveton Secondary College merged with the nearby Dandenong High School to form one school based at the Dandenong High School and Cleeland Secondary College locations.

Image supplied by Colleen Duggan-Bailey'

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Masonic Lodge, 5 Mason St, Dandenong, in 1967

The 1919 township plan of Dandenong shows a cottage on Lot 12, the site where the Masonic Hall is now built. No documentation could be located on the date of its demolition.

The history of the Masonic Lodge in Dandenong commenced in 1876 when the Lodge of Sincerity (then 1701 of the English Constitution) now no. 179 on the register of the United Grand Lodge of Victoria, was consecrated. 64 The first meeting to consider the forming of the Lodge of Free and Acceptable Masons was held on 3 September 1876 but the lodge was
closed in 1881.

It wasn’t until 1896 that the re-opening of the Lodge was reconsidered. Members from the original Lodge joined this new Lodge of Sincerity and brought with them regalia, furniture and money. The new Lodge was consecrated on the 24 August 1896, and meetings were held on a monthly basis at the Lodge Room of the Mechanics Institute at the Shire Offices. The Lodge was known as the Lodge of Sincerity no. 179 under the United Grand Lodge of Victoria.

In December 1907 members decided to set aside part of the members dues and initiation fees for the future construction of a Masonic Temple. In the 1920s, the Lodge was struggling for space due to a large increase in memberships and on the 7 September 1922 the Lodge held a meeting to discuss the possibility of building. A contract was entered with Bro. G. Snell to have plans and specifications drawn up for the cost of £2,800. Tenders were called and a building contract was signed with Bro. N. A. Taylor for the total sum of £2,530.

The building was completed in 1923 with all furniture and fittings for the supper and lodge room donated by members.

On 22 December 1923, the Lodge held their first meeting in the new building. On the 16 August 1924 a ceremony of dedication was held and the foundation stone was unveiled. In 1931, £274 was spent for concrete rendering and other improvements. In 1940, 1955 and 1979/81 alterations were made to accommodate and upgrade female and male toilets.

In 1991 the Dandenong Masonic Temple as well as those in Springvale, Mordialloc and Chelsea closed. They all amalgamated to use a new building in Keysborough.

In 1992 the building was used by the “Recycle Workshop”. By September 1996 the building had been acquired by Mick and Rosa Valenti. In December 1996 they leased the building to the Spanish Christian Church for three years with Guillermo Esquivell as the Senior Minister. The building is now vacant as remodeling and construction of neighboring land takes place..

Information courtesy of Greater Dandenong Heritage Study
Image origins unknown at time of posting.

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Coles, Lonsdale Street, Dandenong, in 1963

The first Coles New World store complete with a very modern rocket, which opened in 1962 in our very own Dandenong.

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Lonsdale St 1989-1990 looking back at Venture which was where Waltons was.

First came Waltons, Then came Venture, And presently Dimmeys continues the trade in this building on Lonsdale Street. There was plenty of parking and Dairy Bell still occupied the front left corner of the building, serving up there famous selection, Dairy Bell left Dandenong in 2013.

 Waltons was a strong outlet for many years but after a disastrous takeover of Waltons by Alan Bond in 1981 the store saw sharp decline, eventually being split up and resold, Waltons Dandenong was sold to the Cookes family and re-branded as Venture in 1987, But sadly Venture went bankrupt in 1994, bringing to an end this chapter. Eventually Dimmeys moved into the building and has remained there since.

Photo supplied by  Brad Farrell‎

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Dandenong Fire Station in Walker Street, Dandenong, early 1910's.

In this early 1910's photo, the quick build and almost cartoonist design of the old building stands out, Facing Walker street with Robinson street up the left and Mason street to the right, The present day location of the Walker street Gallery has a long history with the the local Fire Station. This building was moved in the 1930's to Bangholme,, to make way for the new/present building, and became the Bangholme Memorial Hall and is still there and being used for Dances to this day.

This building was replaced with the present building around 1930, sadly the present building has had many modifications leaving it almost unrecognizable. The Dandenong Fire Station moved to bigger premises at 120 Princes Hwy in 1986, last year they move again further up the highway into bigger premises.

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Frank Facey commenced trading in 1917.

Frank Facey was born in Cranbourne, Victoria and after a career in coach building , started a Real Estate business in Dandenong which commenced trading in 1917. In 1945 a new site was purchased and a new office built in Lonsdale Street. In 1982 they joined the First National Real Estate Group. In 1990 Hall & Partners took control and they began trading as Hall & Partners First National from the same Lonsdale Street Location.

Frank’s son Angus joined his father in the business in 1930. His son Andrew followed in his footsteps and joined his father in the business in 1968 and took over the management in 1974 .

Image supplied by Geri Grover‎

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Aerial view looking across Grendas for depot to Dandenong.

This stunning photo of part of Dandenong, that has been transformed and lost forever, came with no date, but the size of the depot along with the former Tax Office in the backdrop does suggest a date range. George street and Stockmans Bridge now occupy part of this location.

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Mayfair Theatre, 170 Thomas Street, Dandenong in 1968.

The Boomerang Theatre (as it was known) officially opened in 1924 as one of Dandenong's earliest, if not first, theatre. In 1950 it became known as the Mayfair Theater.

The Mayfair Buildings (Between Lonsdale and Thomas streets) replaced Dunbar’s Royal "new" Hotel in 1922. Situated at the rear of 221–229 Lonsdale street, The Mayfair Theatre was demolished 1968, not long after this photo was taken, along with the Lonsdale street facing building.

Hanover arcade was built on this site also going through to Lonsdale Street, This too was demolished in the early 2010's, A site with many faces and constructions over the years now bares no historical buildings.

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Postcard showing BP Island and surrounding buildings in Dandenong.

You can see part of Scots Presbyterian Church and 2nd dandy scout hall facing foster street which were demolished for the court house complex.

Image supplied by Brad Farrell

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Tharle Butches, Lonsdale Street, Dandenong

Where Vanity Court now stands.   For more images like this visit us at https://www.facebook.com/olddandenong/

The Commercial Bank, 209 -211 Lonsdale Street, late 1800's

Separated from Dunbar’s Hotel with vacant treed land, the imposing and ornate Commercial Bank was built in 1869. The Commercial Bank also remained with its original façade until it was demolished. ) Its replacement was a two storey brown brick building typical of architecture in the 60’s

The Commercial Bank was the first bank to open a branch in Dandenong,in 1869 and continued throughout the years to support major developments in the town. As the pioneer of banking in Gippsland,it enhanced the central position of Dandenong in the region. The Commercial closed its doors in 1893 despite a public meeting expressing its support.

Tho first manager of tho Commercial Bank was Hector M. Sutherland, For fifteen years Mr. Sutherland occupied bachelor quarters at Dunbar’s Hotel, and I think that in those days everybody in the town and district knew “Mr. Sutherland’s room.” It was situated off the. main entrance, and long after Mr. Sutherland married and took up his life on tho bank premises the room retained its old name.

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Composite Bridge, Lonsdale Street, Dandenong, 1904-2000s

Looking into Dandenong towards Foster street.

Over the years ‘the rapids of Dandenong’, so described once by the poet Adam Lindsay Gordon, have swept away more than one bridge in the area. The first bridge over Dandenong Creek was constructed in 1840. A flood swept this away ten years later and it was replaced.

The stone bridge, built in 1866, probably by Robert Huckson, lasted 52 years. Part of it was granite, quarried locally from the vicinity of Wedge and Power Streets.

This bridge was replaced in 1919 by a ferrous metal single-span bridge, with concrete deck, known as the ‘Peace Memorial Bridge’. It was designed by R. H. Woolcock, shire engineer,once described as ‘one of the best engineers in Victoria’. Part of the bridge still carries portion of the Princess Highway over the Dandenong Creek. Modern concrete bridges now span the local creeks at many points.


Courtesy of The Dandenong Journal

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Heatherton Road (Mile Creek Bridge), Noble Park, Undated

The timber bridge pictured here at Mile Creek was replaced by the concrete four cell culvert structure we have today in 1959. Bridges at Corrigan Road, and Douglas Street built in the early to mid 60's are also culvert structures made for the concrete channelisation of Mile Creek between the Sandown weir and Chandler Road.

Image supplied by: Gaye Guest - Information supplied by: Andrew Scanlon

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Lonsdale Street, Dandenong, 1950s

If you grew up in Gippsland, back in the 'olden days' before the freeways were built then you would have driven through the main street of Dandenong, many times. I'm not actually old enough to remember these palm trees, but they look very picturesque. This is one of a booklet of post cards published by Valentine Publishing in the 1950s (perhaps - someone may be able to date the cars)

Image courtesy of:  Casey Cardinia Heritage

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Albion Hotel, 329-333 Lonsdale Street, Dandenong, between 1889-1891

The Albion Hotel stands on the site of Alexander Bowman’s store, which he started in 1852, possibly Dandenong’s first store. Bowman owned every street corner but one of Lonsdale Street in the very early days, and was said to have ‘owned half the township at one period’.

James Clarke bought the store erected by A. W. Bowman, and converted it into a hotel, which he named the “Mornington Arms.” Clarke took advantage of a rumor about the establishment of a permanent market to invest in this hotel, and it turned out to be a very profitable move. At first the house was merely a “beer shop.” However, Clarke did not live long to enjoy his prosperity, as, coming home from Melbourne one night, he was thrown from a cart and killed.

Alfred Pope (son of David Pope), conducted the house for a time, but was succeeded by Charles Dobson, who transferred from the “Shamrock Hotel" on the corner of Scott and Lonsdale Street. Charles Dobson purchased it in 1882 and re-named it the ‘Albion’ alter the hostelry in Bourke street, Melbourne, from whence the coaches left for Dandenong and Gippsland.

Peter McQuade was the proprietor in 1889 and the McQuades replaced the early one-storey timber building with the present two-storey building in 1891. Peter James McQuade was born in Ireland, and when he first arrived here, he farmed at Flemington before taking up land at Springvale, where he worked for fifteen years. He ran the Bridge Hotel 185-195 Lonsdale Street in 1887, and from 1889 owned and ran the Albion Hotel.

The hotel had been in the possession of varying members of the McQuade family continuously from 1889 until at least 1993 (Present ownership not known to us). The magnificent verandah as seen in this photo has been removed but the façade has remained largely unaltered, with an extension into a small retail premises next door.

The hotel has a near intact upper level, with timber sash double hung windows, but the ground level façade has been altered. Here the former face brick wall has been rendered and the original five openings (windows, doors) have been revised but the paneled Victorian-era timber door, with its top light, resembles the original.

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Aerial View of Dandenong in the 1950's

In this one you can see the area covering where the Dandenong Plaza now stands, Bordered by McCrae. Foster and Clow street with the former Myers now closing the left side of the Plaza.
An alternate version of this image can be found here.

Edward Ellis’s store which later became the Wessex is still visible on the corner of Walker and Langhorne diagonal to the rear of the Town Hall.

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Dandenong North Primary (State) School, 117-125 Cleeland St, Dandenong, 1971 .

Originally constructed in 1955, This school like a lot ha seen recent redevelopment. The old building were an example of the "Light Timber Construction" design developed in the 1950's by the Public Works Department in Victoria. As the State Government struggled to build enough schools following WW2, the uniform nature of the design meant that hundreds of schools of almost uniform design could be built in a cost-effective and speedy manner.
Finding exciting history on this local school has proved to be a challenge, so were hoping you, our enthusiastic readers, can help shed some light on the history of this school to help us compile a better description here.

Image courtesy of: Anneke Pereboom-Veldman

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Then and Now, Walker Street CFA/Gallery, 1930s/2010s

Then and Now, Walker Street CFA/Gallery, 1930s/2010s

Image supplied by: Keith Pakenham'

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Cnr. Lonsdale and Walker Street, Dandenong, Early/Mid 1960's

Looking from before the intersection of Walker and Lonsdale street Dandenong. Back when there were no traffic signals on this intersection, Coles and the Pub Pub (Club Hotel) still graced the main street, and Market Motors was doing well in trading locally made Holden's.

The old Bank of Australasia building still stood opposite the Pub on the corner of Lonsdale and Scott streets. Do you remember these buildings? Some of them remain and some are lost forever.

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Township of Dandenong, north-east view (c. 1866-1878)

Mechanic's Institute (white building) in Foreground, The Mechanics Institute build a larger brick building in front of the white building on the corner of Walker and Lonsdale streets, the current site of Town Hall. Up further on the right you can make out St James Anglican Church.

Found at: http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/explore/collection/work/8853/

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1985 local Dandenong bus ticket

Do you remember when catching a local bus was just 40 cents? This ticket from 1985 is in excellent condition for a 31 year on piece of paper.

This scratch ticket from around 1990 didn't last many years before being replaced.

These wonderful photos supplied by Kellie Enright

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Dandenong Train Station, No date provided.

Looking across some of the old station buildings towards the Southern Aurora hotel, This wonderful colour photo gives an eye catching glimpse into the area. Looking a little run down at this point.

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Aerial shot of Dandenong in 1963.

With the wide road across the top being Lonsdale street, Thomas street, Mason street and Robinson street completing the cross roads. Foster street winds down the left, With Walker street and part of Scott street visible.

Interesting to note this was before the former AMP building, The former Tax Office and the former DHS buildings. The former Church Of Christ building had been built on the corner of Walker and Mason, as had the new Post Office building next to the town hall. 

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Southern Aurora Hotel, Next to Dandenong Railway Station, undated

Back of the Hotel showing the 10 Motel Units.

 Southern Aurora Hotel Motel (‘K’s Dandenong Hotel P/L.) The owners were Mr and Mrs Karnhauser. Built on railway property the hotel adopted a name, which was synonymous with the railways (Southern Aurora express). It was believed to be the first privately owned licensed premises with residential accommodation to be built on railway property, in fact next to the Dandenong Station

Original Lounge and Function rooms had the names Observation Lounge, Pullman Grill, Club Car Lounge, Tunnel Room and Express Bar.

Nearby Kayes Lane is name after the former owners of Southern Aurora. It was demolished during the 1990's, The space is now part of the bus interchange and car parking adjacent.

Image supplied by: Brad Farrell

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The Journal, 1 Scott Street, Dandenong.

The Journals office at number 1 Scott Street, No date was provided, 1 Scott Street is now part of the Nu Hotel complex.

The following is from an article written by Narelle Coulter in the Dandenong Journal.

"The Dandenong Journal is one of the oldest and proudest community newspapers in Australia.
Founded as the South Bourke and Mornington Journal in 1865, it has been a reliable record of life in Dandenong and surrounding districts for close to 150 years.
When its Irish founder Harvey Roulston arrived in Victoria in 1853, Dandenong was a thriving settlement on the banks of the Dandenong Creek.
Roulston got ink under his fingernails learning the newspaper trade as a compositor at the iconic Argus.
He later struck out on his own, opening an office and printing works in Bridge Street, Richmond, where The Journal was first produced.
In 1875, Roulston relocated his business to Dandenong. Competition had sprung up in the form of the Dandenong Advertiser and he was determined that his paper would be the journal of record for the district.
To achieve that that he knew he needed to put himself and the paper at the centre of community life.
Roulston became an important and generous member of the community – setting a precedent of community involvement for Journal editors and proprietors throughout the next 100 years.
Such was the esteem in which Harvey Roulston was held that when he died in 1896, most businesses in town put up their shutters as a mark of respect.
Bill Roulston carried on his father’s legacy of passionate but fair community journalism, devoting 50 years of his life to running the newspaper.
Greg Dickson became editor and publisher when he bought The Journal on 1 August 1939. Dickson was a young reporter from Ouyen who learnt the newspaper business from his mother, one of the few female editors in Australia at the time.
He gave a teenage Marg Stork her first assignment, nurturing a career that has spanned more than 70 years. Now 90, Marg still writes for The Journal. See A Moment with Marg page 10.
Marg recalls customers patiently standing in line with threepence in their hands outside The Journal’s Scott Street office ready to purchase the paper.
Dickson modernised The Journal, building it up to 16 pages, scrapping the front page advertisements and introducing news headlines."

The complete article can be found here:
http://dandenong.starcommunity.com.au/journal/2013-09-09/voice-of-our-community-lives-on/

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Aerial of Doveton and Dandenong Ranges circa 1960s.

One can see Power Road snaking its way from Princes Hwy, bottom right, up to the top of the housing estate.

The area has it's origins as part of the Eumemmerring pastoral run. The part pictured became the Grassmere estate, which was subdivided into smaller holdings in the 1880s. The small farming community was served by a hotel and school. There was also a racecourse.

Doveton as a town came into existence in the mid 1950s when the State Housing Commission purchased a large area of land to provide low cost housing for returned soldiers and workers employed in the new factories near Dandenong. The early Commission housing was around the Autumn Place shopping centre. A lace factory had commenced operations on the Princes Highway in 1950. On the southern side of the highway, first International Harvester, then General Motors-Holden and then Heinz established large factories. These were followed by many smaller factories.

Doveton was named after F.C. Doveton, a Goldfields Commissioner and Police Magistrate, who had earlier lived in the area. By 1962, there were 1500 homes. At first, there were few community facilities, and there was a pressing need for schools. By 1969 there were seven schools:

The Doveton North technical school became part of Endeavour Hills when the Mulgrave Freeway divided it from Doveton in 1972, and the area south-east of Eumemmerring Creek (with its own school opened in 1977) became the suburb of Eumemmerring in 1981. Most of the schools had high enrollments within a few years of opening (Doveton West had over 1050 pupils in five years). In 2011 the State schools had been reduced to one, centred on the site where Doveton primary opened in 1956.

Image supplied by: Brad Farrell‎

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Church Of Christ, 17 Robinson Street, Dandenong, in 1933

The original Church of Christ building was constructed in 1904 and officially opened on 28 August after an 11 week construction period on the corner of Robinson and George Street (before George street was realigned to meet the end of Walker street in the early 2010s).

In early 1918 through voluntary labour the Sunday School hall was added to the rear of the church, further working bees resulted in the lining of the hall and construction of the kitchen.

In September 1957 a newly built brick chapel on the corner of Mason and Walker Streets was completed (Presently occupied by Cornerstone Contact Centre since 1992), The church moved in 1990 to new premises at 139 David Street, outside the CBD area, ending its involvement in the centre of Dandenong.

The 1904 church building pictured was occupied by the Dandenong Assembly of God until 1977 when it was sold to the United Pentecostal Fellowship. It later became occupied by the Church of the Word. The building would survive into the 21st century before being demolished as part of the Revitalization of Dandenong, Presently the new A.T.O. building occupies this site.

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Postcards from State Library

The following images were found at www.slv.vic.gov.au

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