Places – Port Melbourne Historical and Preservation Society

Nelson Street

Places, Port Melbourne HistoryOctober 2, 2026

by David F Radcliffe Nelson Street is tucked away in the block bounded by Graham, Clark, Poolman and Albert Streets. Like nearby Melville Street, Nelson Street was created to provide access to houses built when large Crown allotments were subdivided. While Melville Street is now mostly carports and garages, Nelson Street remains residential, a blend of architectural styles from various decades.…

Donaldson Street and Place

Places, Port Melbourne HistorySeptember 4, 2026

by David F Radcliffe Donaldson Street runs from Beach Street to Rouse Street, in the block bounded by Nott and Stokes Streets; designated as Block 1 (or Section 1) on the original Sandridge Plan. Partway along it, Donaldson Place cuts through to Nott Street. The mid-rise apartment buildings along Beach Street offer few clues about why these two narrow roadways…

Rotten Row

Places, Port Melbourne HistoryAugust 7, 2026

by David Thompson A group of remnant timber piles on the banks of the Yarra off Lorimer Steet, designated as stop No. 10 on the Port of Melbourne Port Heritage Trail are all that remain of the timber jetties constructed by the Melbourne Harbor Trust (MHT) in the late 1880s in conjunction with their nearby timber depot. Rotten Row looking downstream, January…

Port Melbourne Markets on Crockford Street

Places, Port Melbourne HistoryJuly 10, 2026

by David F Radcliffe At a recent PMHPS meeting, Maria McQuillan drew attention to the former Port Melbourne Markets on Crockford Street and wondered about their location and history. Designed by renowned Melbourne architect I.G. Anderson, the Port Melbourne Markets were situated between Ingles and Boundary Streets, on the site where the Fruiterer’s Wife trades today. During the 1930s, the…

Morris Reserve

People, Places, Port Melbourne HistoryJuly 3, 2026

by David F Radcliffe Morris Reserve is the trapezoidal block of land bordered by Graham, Evans, Swallow and Ross Streets. It is the location of the Port Melbourne Tennis Club plus a tennis-themed children’s playground built in 2013. The reserve is named for Joe Morris, Port Melbourne Councillor between 1907 to 1921 and mayor in 1910/11. Morris Reserve Playground and…

Page Reserve and Page Avenue

People, Places, Port Melbourne HistoryJune 5, 2026

by David Thompson Page Reserve Sign, 2026. Photograph by David Thompson. Page Reserve is the northern-most of the Railway Reserves on the Station Street side of what is now the 109 tram line between Ingles and Boundary Streets. Page Reserve, looking towards Montague, 2026. Photograph by David Thompson. Page Avenue is one of the original streets laid out for the State Savings…

Davies Street

People, Places, Port Melbourne HistoryMay 1, 2026

by David F Radcliffe Davies Street, with its maturing trees, links Lyons Street with Esplanade Place in the north-east corner of Port Melbourne. It is named for Albert Edward (Bert) Davies, a Port Melbourne councillor from 1927 to 1930 and mayor in 1929/30. However, his contributions to civic life cannot be separated from those of his life partner, Alice Davies, nee Warburton, the…

Walter Avenue

People, Places, Port Melbourne HistoryApril 3, 2026

by David F Radcliffe For sixty years, Walter Avenue ran between Lyons Street and Esplanade Place. It honoured George Samuel Walter (1875-1937) who served continuously as a Port Melbourne Councillor from 1897 to 1937. He died in office. G. S. Walter was twice mayor (1901/02 and 1934/35) and a Commissioner on the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works (MMBW) from…

J Kitchen and Sons: maker of industrial chemicals

Places, Port Melbourne HistoryFebruary 20, 2026

Over its long history the company used a range of titles, but to the residents of Port Melbourne it was never anything other than 'Kitchens'1. Kitchens meant Velvet Soap and a memory of candles, but to the wider manufacturing community it had quite another connotation: as a major manufacturer of fatty acids. In the early 1960s Kitchens produced a folder,…

Woolboard Road

Places, Port Melbourne HistoryFebruary 6, 2026

Woolboard Road, 2025. Photograph by David Thompson. In the lead up to Christmas 2025, during some idle time selling Historic Calendars outside Woolworths at the corner of Plummer and Graham Streets, the question was raised of what previously occupied the site. The answer was not immediately forthcoming however Dale Dawson was able to say that it was the Wool Board or…

Acknowledgement of Traditional Custodians