Reserves and Parks – Port Melbourne Historical and Preservation Society

Memorial to George Sangster

People, Places, Port Melbourne HistoryMay 6, 2022

by Margaret Bride Sangster Memorial. Photo: Janet Bolitho. Sangster Reserve occupies the small triangular piece of land behind the Port Melbourne Bowling Club between Princes and Nott Streets. The area includes a children's playground and nearby there is an art deco style electrical substation. Just inside the Nott Street entrance is this monument commemorating the life of George Sangster, once a…

Smith Street and Smith Reserve

People, Places, Port Melbourne HistoryNovember 5, 2021

Two streets, one in Port and one in South Melbourne, as well as a section of Port Melbourne's Railway Reserves, bear the name Smith. And that doesn't take into account the curious occurrence of, what is now, Frangipani Court also being referred to as Smith Street in the Sand's & McDougall Directories from 1915 to 1974. But why are…

‘Lagoon Reserve’: Residential or Recreational?

Port Melbourne HistorySeptember 30, 2021

by David Radcliffe In the 1890s, the name ‘lagoon reserve’ applied to any part of the strip of reclaimed land, bounded by Esplanade East and Esplanade West, extending from Bridge St to Rouse St. Formed by filling in the Sandridge Lagoon, it was also known as the ‘lagoon lands’. The recreational park we know today as Lagoon Reserve, between Liardet…

Now and Then 2021 – Lagoon Reserve

Port Melbourne HistoryAugust 2, 2021

Lagoon Reserve is a popular place for dogs and their owners to meet up especially in the late afternoon. The reserve is lined on its eastern side by the Park Apartments and across Graham Street by the Portside Apartments. Both art deco inspired designs were developed by Becton Pty Ltd during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Lagoon Reserve (2021).…

R.F. Julier Reserve

People, Places, Port Melbourne HistoryMarch 7, 2019

When the Housing Commission of Victoria built a new estate at Fishermans Bend, open space was a critical part of the health oriented design. Although the roads were named, the open space reserves were not named at the time. Layout of the Housing Commission estate at Fishermans Bend State Library of Victoria In the seventies, or thereabouts, the…

Fred Jackson Reserve

People, Places, Port Melbourne HistoryFebruary 11, 2019

Fred Jackson Reserve, Garden City. Photo by David Thompson. Fred Jackson Reserve is positioned at the head of Centre Avenue in Garden City, bounded by The Bend, Batman Road, Cumberland Road and the Ada Mary a'Beckett Childrens Centre. Frederick Caton Jackson was Town Clerk of Port Melbourne from 1973 to 1988. He was born on 19 February 1931 and died on…

Garden City Reserve

Places, Port Melbourne HistoryMarch 23, 2017

Garden City Reserve. This is a photo of Garden City Reserve taken early Autumn 2016 at about 7 am. I always make a cup of tea in the morning and go out the front in my dressing gown and look eastwards towards the park. There is always a difference in the horizon. It can be the sun breaking with the clouds bright…

George Samuel Walter Memorial Garden after refurbishment, 29 March 2016.

George Samuel Walter Memorial Garden, 2016

People, Places, Port Melbourne HistoryJuly 28, 2016

At our July meeting we presented the entries to the My Port Melbourne photograph competition, announced the winners and made our selection for the People's Choice Award. Christine Griffith's entry, "George Samuel Walter Memorial Garden, 2016", was judged the overall winner. In the coming months we'll be presenting several entries on this website but it's only fitting that we start with the…

Meeting – Mon 22 February 2016, 7.30pm

MeetingsJanuary 29, 2016

Westgate Park. Source: Friends of Westgate Park (www.westgate.org) Come along in February to hear wetlands enthusiast, Rod Giblett, speak on Fishermens Bend and Westgate Park in his talk Wasteland and Wetland. Rod Giblett lived by Forrestdale Lake in Perth, was involved in its conservation, wrote about both and taught at a number of universities for over twenty-five years. He has published many articles and books…

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…

Acknowledgement of Traditional Custodians