1934 Floods, Lonsdale Street from Foster Street, Dandenong.

Looking down Lonsdale Street from Foster Street towards Dandenong Park during the 1934 floods, It can be hard to imagine such a wide area of Dandenong being under water.

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In Dandenong's early days, the creek was always a problem. It was just a shallow meandering stream that would always flood the southern part of the town. It is hard to believe that from this point all the way down to the Cranbourne turn-off could at times be up to five feet under water.

The original crossing point of the creek was a further 50 to 60 feet towards the town centre, about in-line where the (Former) Dandenong Bowling Club is located. The area south of Walker Street was once very swampy and it took a lot of effort and cost to rectify it. The amount of filling needed on both sides was enormous.

Crossing the creek back in the early 1840's was at first negotiated by foot passengers by means of piles driven well into the ground, topped with a single plank and guarded by a hand rail. A primitive type wooden bridge was soon constructed and only lasted to the end of the decade. A new wooden bridge was built of more grander proportions but this too was destroyed by flooding waters.

A new stone bridge with two single arches was constructed in 1866 and lasted until 1919, also undermined by floods. This bridge was located at today's present bridge site. By this time the Dandenong Creek south of Clow Street had been converted in parts into a more drain like appearance.

This allowed water to flow more freely and quickly through the southern part of the township but it didn't stop the disastrous floods back in December 1934. Today, the Dandenong Creek through this area has been straightened and channeled as an urban stream and flooding is a rare occurrence.

Above text quoted from a Past 2 Present post:
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