by David Thompson
Melbourne Harbor Trust General Plan, 1893 (detail). State Library of Victoria
A General Plan prepared by the Melbourne Harbor Trust dated 1893[1] shows a regular grid of six streets to the west of Williamstown Road. Tarver Street, Plummer Street and a third unnamed street running parallel to Williamstown Road with King Street, Stone Street and another unnamed street running directly off Williamstown…
by David F Radcliffe
Because Princes Street, originally called Railway Place, runs parallel to the Melbourne to Hobson’s Bay Railway, the block bounded by Graham, Stokes, Liardet and Princes Streets (Crown Block 10) is trapezoidal rather than rectangular in shape. Turville Place was created to provide access to the interior parts of the southern portion of this block. Unlike “interior”…
by David Thompson
The red-brick Chapman Memorial Hall has stood in Ross Street for over one hundred and twenty years.
When the foundation stone was laid on the afternoon of Saturday 24 January 1903 The Standard reported that many who had attended ‘were surprised to find that the new building was at an advanced stage of construction’.[1] It was already identified as the…
by David F Radcliffe
Barlow Street is one of those “internal” roadways that provide access to houses located off the main streets in Port Melbourne. Its entrance is on the eastern side of Nott Street between Liardet and Graham Streets.
Access to Barlow Street off Nott Street. Photograph by David Radcliffe.
Like Florence Place, Barlow Street is a consequence of the way…
Port Melbourne Uniting Church in Bridge St, 9 February 2023 image Janet Bolitho
The Rev. John Tansey conducted the final service of he Port Melbourne Uniting Church congregation at 5 pm on Sunday, November 2022. Anne Garrow, a member of the congregation since 1984, gave this overview of the Church's history
Before this church was built, this land was…
by David F Radcliffe
When I first came across Florence Place it grabbed my attention as my mother’s name was Florence. Running between Stokes Street and Nott Street just south of Liardet Street, it affords access to the northern side of the large apartment complex that occupies most of this block. Strolling down it, I wondered why it was straight…
Church St (highlighted), MMBW Map (detail), 1895. State Library of Victoria
Church Street is the Z-shaped laneway running from Stokes Street to Nott Street highlighted above on an MMBW map from 1895.
St Joseph's Roman Catholic Church, MMBW Map (detail), 1895. State Library of Victoria.
The Stokes Street end of Church Street is opposite St Joseph's Roman Catholic Church which was…
by David F Radcliffe
When researching the story of the entrepreneurial Otto Schumacher, one question proved very difficult to answer. When did the small factory he built on Esplanade East in 1890 turn into the impressive building that defined the corner of Graham Street and Esplanade East from the 1920s? With its distinctive red brick and white stucco façades and flanked…
The weather settled briefly at midday on Thursday 3rd November for the Allan Whittaker commemoration. A bank of clouds over Williamstown edged closer but no rain fell.
Kevin Bracken tells the Whittaker story photo Janet Bolitho
In front of the recently named Allan Whittaker Centre, Kevin Bracken re-told the now familiar story of the…
by David Thompson
Lind Avenue (highlighted), Morgan's Official Street Directory, 34th Edition, Map 36 (detail)
Lind Avenue runs from Dunstan Parade to Sandridge Avenue along the western edge of Buckingham Reserve.
It was probably named after Albert Eli Lind, later Sir Albert Eli Lind, who was a Minister and Deputy Premier in the Dunstan State Government as well as serving…