Douglas Street, Noble Park, late 1960s

Postcard of Douglas Street in Noble Park looking towards the Heatherton Road intersection,

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Noble Park Railway Station, 1918-1930s

The Oakleigh to Gippsland railway line had stations at Springvale and Dandenong and as land near the Springvale station underwent subdivision into small farm holdings, owners down the line subdivided their land. In 1909 several holdings in the area later to be known as Noble Park were cut up for market gardens. One of the vendors was Allan Buckley, who is chiefly recognised as the founder of Noble Park, as it is named after one of his six children, Noble Buckley.

His other children’s names were given to streets, including Douglas Street where the shopping centre is located. The Buckley family school was opened in 1911, an Anglican church in 1912 and a railway office/stopping place in 1913. A public hall was built in the same year, which under the management of locally elected trustees, has occupied a strong position in the community.

Until the years after World War II Noble Park was mainly a farming community concentrated on market gardens, dairying and poultry. Small amounts of industry were near the railway station, along with housing. The town had six shops in 1923, and the 1933 census recorded 1507 persons.

Until May 1955, Noble Park was in the Dandenong shire. Severance was warmly greeted by Noble Park residents who thought that Dandenong shire had neglected their needs, and the severed shire was named Springvale and Noble Park. When the municipality was made a city in 1961 it became City of Springvale.

The present station was opened in the late 1960s after the original buildings were destroyed by an arsonist. A row of shops now occupies the site of the first station, of which no trace remains today. As part of the EastLink project, minor upgrade works were carried out, including improved shelter, carpark upgrades, and a security upgrade including brighter lighting and better CCTV coverage.

In 2015 the Level Crossing Removal Authority announced the Grade separation of nearby Heatherton Road with construction scheduled to start in 2016. The proposal will see the new station being elevated and moved closer to where the public restrooms presently stand.

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Damon Bros Market Garden, Noble Park. 1962.

Fred Damon was the second son of Ted and Florrie Damon who, together with their children, ran a successful 15 acre market garden on Waverly Road for many years. His siblings were Albert, Harold, Allan, Alma and Keith. All the Damon siblings attended Mt Waverly State School.

In 1928, with a team of 14 horses, the family had moved a weatherboard house to their property from near Jordanville Station, giving them the honor at that time of being known to deliverymen as "the fourth house on the left from Warrigal Road".

By 1956 most of the Waverly Road property had been sold and the property in Noble Park had been purchased and he and his brothers had entered into a partnership in 1955. In 1963 their father Ted passed away at the age of 64 years old.

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Douglas Street, Noble Park, undated

Roads and footpaths were same level often causing flooding.

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Noble Park Public Hall, during construction, 1925.

In 1913 Alan (Frank) Buckley and Charles Luxford were the registered proprietors of the land on which the Noble Park Public Hall now stands. Local residents set about raising some money and a small timber hall was erected. A trust, comprising Messrs Luxford, Maroney and Bunn, was set up, decreeing that the area should be used as a public hall.

In 1919 after Luxfords' death the two remaining trustees transferred the old hall and grounds to five trustees, Messrs Isaac, Beatty, Smith, Simpson and Luxford. Registered under the provisions of the Religious, Successory and Charitable Trusts Act, the salient points stressed and guaranteed by this action were that “the hall shall be used for public, educational, charitable and recreation purposes, subject to the provisions and management of the trust, thereby keeping it in the hands of the Noble Park Community for future generations.

In 1924, the trustees borrowed $4400 from the local council, the Shire of Dandenong, to erect a new brick hall. The title of the land was handed over to the council as security for repayment of the loan. The present Noble Park Public Hall was erected in 1925 and is a testament to the craftsmanship of the local builders, Wanke and Brown. Regular repayments occurred until the Great Depression that led into World War 2 and when revenue almost dried up the council took over running the hall for the next three decades.

In 1957 a packed meeting of residents was held in the hall and the legal position was clearly explained so that there was no doubt where the title belonged, and who should control the future of the hall. The debt was cleared with the Shire Council in October 1957 and five new trustees were elected, Mr Tom Copas, Mr G Luxford, Mr T Kirkpatrick, Cr. E Jenkins and Mr A.J. Paddy O’Donoghue.

During its time under Council control, the hall had become somewhat dilapidated, becoming in desperate need of proper care and renovations. To this end, the trustees set themselves the arduous task of taking care of the halls' as it had been the home of most local organisations at one time or another, with some local groups even having their beginnings stem from meetings that had been held in the hall.

In the late seventies, after many fundraising stalls by the Ladies' Auxilliary, trustees Messrs. John Bush, Paddy O'Donoghue, Bob Bell, Ray Fullerton and Mrs Pat Kampl, called a public meeting of residents interested in developing the complex. The meeting was held on June 24th, 1979, where it was resolved unanimously to establish a hall co-operative. Interested residents were asked to take out shares. It was soon realised that the $30,000 co-operative loan wouldn't be sufficient to fund the building program so the trustees themselves signed a personal guarantee to cover the extra $10,000.

Considerable delays in obtaining building permits caused the project to be held up for approximately eight months, finally in March, 1980, earthworks began. Under the watchful eye of Trustee, John Bush, the foundations were laid in May of that year and work progressed rapidly. Due to Paddy O'Donoghue's sudden death, in his memory upon completion, the trustees decided to name the new hall the "A.J. "Paddy" O'Donoghue Hall, as a tribute to his 47 years tireless devotion to the Noble Park Public Hall.

The Hall suffered a blow several years later when a fire broke out in the upstairs area causing several thousand dollars in damages. This combined with another decade or so of required maintenance eventually saw the lease of the hall and complex pass back to the Council in order to get the much needed work and renovations done.

With everyone moved out of the complex by the end of 2004, demolition of the A J O’Donoghue hall occurred over the holiday period and the building then became a construction site for the next 16 months. The official opening of the Paddy O’Donoghue Centre on May 13th 2006 and was a memorable occasion that was well attended, ensuring that the Public Hall and Complex would continue to be a mainstay of Noble Park for generations to come.

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Opening of Noble Park Primary School 1911

With ¼ acre block subdivisions by Frank Buckley in the Noble Park area that began in 1909 and the establishment of market gardens, a rural population developed, this in turn saw the need for a school to be established to cater to the children within the area.
So it came to be that in January of 1911, the Head Teacher, Olga Ernst, began teaching local students in the public hall. By the following year when the new Head Teacher, E. Beguin began teaching, enrollments had already risen to 50. By 1917 enrollments had risen to 100, so Frank Buckley donated ground where the Education Department built a two room school in the same year. By 1926 when there were 300 students recorded, three more rooms were added to the site.
With the combination of industry growth in Dandenong, the migration influx of post war years and the general availability of cheap land in the Noble Park area, student numbers rose even higher. So, in 1951 the Department of Education provided a second Bristol unit to the school. The Department then decided to purchase a three acre block further along Buckley Street where it then established what was known as the infant school.
By 1965 despite the opening of the new Southvale Primary School which relieved Noble Park of 250 students, along with Heatherhill Primary, Harrisfield Primary and Yarraman Park Primary, Noble Park was still recording a student attendance of 750 in 1969. 
The Noble Park P.S continued to operate as a split school until 1978. It was in that same year under the then Principal, Mr J. C. Campbell, that the original site was finally vacated altogether as senior students were all moved to the junior school as it had been extended to accommodate all of the students, this is where the school is currently located today

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Noble Park Public Hall, Undated.

Noble Park Public Hall, although signed as being erected about 1925, the original hall was constructed in 1917 on land donated to the people of Noble Park.

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Douglas St Noble Park.circa 1925

Douglas St Noble Park.circa 1925

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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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