Moonee Valley Family & Local History Blog

Once again, we find ourselves spending more time at home and many of us are getting re-acquainted with our local streets on our daily walks. If you’ve walked the same path every day and are looking for a way to change up your walks around your neighbourhood, we’ve got you covered! Your local Community Heritage librarians have put together self-guided history walks for four neighbourhoods in Moonee Valley, which you can access through our library catalogue . The walks include a stroll along the river in Aberfeldie, through Queens Park in Moonee Ponds, and around the streets of Niddrie and Strathmore. If these areas fall within your 5km radius, we invite you to take a (safe and socially distant) winter walk and visit points of historical interest in your area- you might even learn some fun local trivia tidbits! The Moonee Ponds Creek flooding in 1963 near Wallace Crescent in Strathmore. This view looks east towards Pascoe Vale South. (Photograph courtesy of Moonee Valley Libraries) Foll...

Now that the weather is warming up and we can venture a little further from home, why not take advantage of a sunny day and enjoy a walk along the river? With our self-guided history walk, you can get to know a little more about the history of Aberfeldie while taking a stroll along the lovely Maribyrnong River. This walk begins outside the iconic Incinerator Gallery on Holmes Road in Aberfeldie and follows a gentle westerly path with stops along the Maribyrnong River, concluding at the newly restored Afton Street bridge. View of the Afton Street Bridge from the Afton Street Conservation Park. August 2020, photograph by S. Holmes. Click  here  to download the Aberfeldie Self-Guided Walk PDF, and either print it, or follow it on-screen on your phone or tablet. The PDF also contains links to photographs, newspaper articles, websites and items in the Moonee Valley Libraries catalogue, so you can look further into Aberfeldie’s interesting history in your own time, from home. We hop...

Aberfeldie is a lovely suburb in Moonee Valley with plenty of green spaces, and has its southern border along the Maribyrnong river. But how did it get its interesting name? The land which would become Aberfeldie Estate was purchased from the crown by Mr. James Robertson in 1845. The homestead was the first house built in the area, and was located on the corner of what are now Aberfeldie Street and Park Crescent. Mr. Robertson took the name from the market town of Aberfeldy in Scotland- quick Google reveals that Aberfeldy is also located along a lovely stretch of river, so perhaps that was the inspiration for the name! Aberfeldie was known for it’s grazing land, and often hosted cattle inspections and auctions in the 1850s-1880s. The Aberfeldie Coursing Association (of which Mr. Robertson was president) also held many successful meets on the property, and the Aberfeldie Plate a well-known greyhound event. Aberfeldie Estate Land Sale, 1888 Back when Mr. Robertson bought his land it was ...

The Walter Burley Griffin Incinerator in Holmes Road, Moonee Ponds was built in 1929 from designs by W. Burley Griffin and is one of the few surviving examples of his work. In the 1920's, incinerators were seen as a solution to shortages of suitable waste lands within municipalities for the tipping of household refuse. The decision by Essendon Council to build one caused much controversy, mainly due to the perceived unsightliness. The method of waste disposal was developed by local Moonee Ponds engineer John Boadle and produced pollutant free emissions. It ceased operations as an incinerator in 1942. For more information go to Sam Merrifield Library 's Local History Room where the vertical file contains newspaper articles, journal articles about the iconic Incinerator.