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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