Bridge Street

Survey Markers around Port

Port Melbourne HistoryNovember 10, 2023

by David F Radcliffe Have you ever wondered what all those nails with coloured markings around them are on footpaths? Or have you come across an odd metal disc lurking in the grass or an unusual cover plate amongst the shrubs on the nature strip? If they look like any of the following, then they are part of the system…

Now and Then 2021 – Bridge Street Light Rail Crossing

Port Melbourne HistoryAugust 2, 2021

Bridge Street Light Rail Crossing (2021). Photo: David Thompson, PMHPS Collection. The light rail service from the city to Port Melbourne opened in December 1987 replacing the railway that had operated along much the same route since 1854. In that year the Hobson’s Bay Railway Company opened the first rail service in Australia from the city to the beach. They were…

Places, Port Melbourne HistoryMay 7, 2021

by David Radcliffe Bridge Street is one of three streets that both traverse Port Melbourne from east to west, cross the light rail tracks and extend into Fishermans Bend, the others being Ingles Street and Graham Street. Originally it only ran from the western edge of Sandridge Lagoon to the Melbourne to Hobsons Bay Railway track. As there was no…

The Freame Families of Port Melbourne

People, Port Melbourne HistoryJuly 24, 2020

by Ray Jelley ‘there was a sheep dressed up to represent Carbine II with his jockey; Bunny Hare all ready to run for the Port Melbourne Cup; saddles of mutton in fanciful designs; poultry and geese formed from the shoulders of mutton; pigeons, made of suet, flying about the windows …’ proclaimed the Standard on 18 May 1895 when describing the display in…

Catherine Terrace

People, Places, Port Melbourne HistoryApril 17, 2019

Ray Jelley writes An enquiry from Julie Peck of Drouin about her grandparents, Herbert and Emma McConnell, was the spark that ignited a warming fire of historical research on a cool autumn night into the cottages at 53 – 63 Bridge Street, currently nearing the completion of an extensive renovation. Julie’s great grandparents William and Winifred Bolitho lived in 57…

81 Bridge St, Port Melbourne

Planning & PreservationJune 29, 2017

September 2017 The planning permit was refused by the City of Port Phillip and appealed to VCAT. 29 June 2017 A planning application has been lodged for the fire damaged property at 81 Bridge St. Permit application 164/2017 is for 6 three storey dwellings with roof top decks. Here is a picture of the house when it was still intact. PMHPS member David Thompson…

Who Needs a Chair?

Port Melbourne HistoryApril 6, 2017

John Beaumont, sitting on the footpath in Bridge Street, Port Melbourne circa 1943. My cousin John Beaumont, sitting on the footpath in front of his home at 43 Bridge Street Port Melbourne around 1943. John’s father Freddie, commenced his war service in Singapore, escaping from there when the city fell to the Japanese on 15th February 1942. Freddie subsequently was transferred…

A Migrant Story

Port Melbourne HistoryAugust 4, 2016

Postcard showing the Johan van Oldenbarnevelt Station Pier and the ship Johan van Oldenbarnevelt have something in common. Both were completed in 1930 and both often met during and after the Second World War. During the war, the JvO was used as a troop ship and ferried many Australian and American soldiers from their shores to and from England. It survived the…

Redevelopment sites in Port Melbourne

Port Melbourne HistorySeptember 24, 2015

Sandridge Motors, near the Graham Street overpass, is for sale by Exrpession of Interest. According to the board, the land is zoned General Residential with a maximum height limit of 18 metres (6 storeys). The Clare Castle Hotel on the other side of the overpass is also for sale. It too is on land zoned General Residential "offering excellent future development…

Acknowledgement of Traditional Custodians