Port Melbourne History – Page 29 – Port Melbourne Historical and Preservation Society

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Town Hall, 333 Bay Street, Port Melbourne

Port Melbourne Historical and Preservation Society

Town Hall, 333 Bay Street, Port Melbourne

Port Melbourne Historical and Preservation SocietyPort Melbourne history

The Leading Lights

Port Melbourne HistoryJuly 10, 2015

'I think that there’s a whole lot of symbolism—iconography even—about what a lighthouse means and we use that as a metaphor in all sorts of language: beacon, lighthouse, navigation aid and so forth.' Peter Marquis-Kyle, Heritage Architect The Port Melbourne Leading Lights were built in 1924, and in conjunction guided ships by marking the centre of the Port Melbourne Channel from…

Marking World Refugee Day

Port Melbourne HistoryJune 20, 2015

Princes Pier, Port Melbourne was the point of arrival for the first refugees to Victoria after the Second World War Arthur Calwell was Australia's first Minister for Immigration in the Chifley government. He drove the policy and its implementation. The sense of urgency is conveyed in this speech: 'without immigration the future of the Australia we know will be both uneasy and brief. As a…

The Empire Cruise

Port Melbourne HistoryJune 18, 2015

The photograph in the window of the Photo Shop on Bay St records the visit of the 'Empire Cruise' to Melbourne in March 1924. Here is the photograph in the Museum Victoria Collection Reg. No: MM 111120 - but the image is reversed. Which is correct? From 27 November 1923 to 28 September 1924, a fleet of six warships led by the flagship 'Hood'…

J. Kitchen & Sons, The Candle Kings

Collection, Port Melbourne HistoryJune 11, 2015

From the Collection - items from the J. Kitchen and Son collection Following the sale of Symex's Port Melbourne operation and their relocation to Shepparton, records and items from their museum were donated to PMHPS. The Society is delighted that a collection so important to the industrial history of Port Melbourne will be retained within the suburb where the company operated for…

When Mad Max Came to Port Melbourne

Places, Port Melbourne HistoryJune 4, 2015

Still from Mad Max (1979) showing the Halls of Justice gateway. The recent release of Mad Max: Fury Road has us thinking back to 1979 when director, George Miller started the franchise with the film Mad Max. That original film, telling the story of Main Force Patrol (MFP) policeman Max Rockatansky (Mel Gibson) battling against a violent motorcycle gang, was made on a…

A House in Beach Street

Places, Port Melbourne HistoryMay 28, 2015

IRVINE, a house at 42 Beach Street, was built in 1922 for Eli and Christina Edwards. 'Only best quality material' was used in the construction of the house which was carefully chosen with a clear view of Station Pier, Williamstown and the Port Melbourne Yacht Club. Eli, better known as Dick, was a farrier and a great yachtsman. IRVINE at 42 Beach…

The Railway Reserves

Places, Port Melbourne HistoryMay 21, 2015

Sandridge was lucky. It was because of its significant position on the bay that the Melbourne and Hobsons Bay Railway was opened, and favoured with so generous a grant of land on which to lay its tracks. Along that short rail route between Flinders Street and the bay, a strip of Crown land one hundred yards wide was set aside as…

Sign of the Swallow

Port Melbourne HistoryMay 14, 2015

This Port Melbourne story is reproduced with permission from Stephen Banham's wonderful book Characters: Cultural stories revealed through typograpy . 'Real estate development can be unkind to signage. The urgency to convert a site from industrial to residential often promotes a 'scorched earth' approach - complete erasure of what once occupied a site. However, amid the crashing bricks and billowing dust there often lie…

Centenary Bridge

Places, Port Melbourne HistoryApril 30, 2015

Centenary Bridge c1949 It was not known as Centenary Bridge when it was built, but as the ‘Overhead Bridge at Station Pier’. It was constructed in 1934 to make the ‘disgraceful’ Port Melbourne waterfront more attractive in Victoria’s 100th year. For decades, complaints about our waterfront’s unsightliness had gone unsorted. The piers with their handsome gatehouses at least had been completed, but…

Sandridge Court House

Places, Port Melbourne HistoryApril 28, 2015

The Sandridge Court House on the corner of Graham and Bay Sts, was designed by Public Works Department architect John James Clark. It was built in 1862. He also designed the Sandridge Post Office (cnr Rouse and Bay Sts), now part of the campus of Albert Park Secondary College. It is on the Victorian Heritage Register. Together with the Police Station (now McClusky's lawyers)…

Acknowledgement of Traditional Custodians