Moonee Valley Family & Local History Blog

" Wind Flowers " by Marie Henkel, a Series of Short Stories Reflecting on Her Youth has been donated to the Moonee Valley Library Service by the author. In her collection "Grandma's Hats" Marie recalls Puckle Street, Moonee Ponds as a fashionable shopping centre in the 1930's and her family's sentimental attachment to Puckle Street and the surrounding areas of Essendon and Strathmore.

Puckle Street, Moonee Ponds, 1912-1917, National Library of Australia. Puckle Street, Moonee Ponds which commences at the Junction of Mt. Alexander Road and finishes at the Moonee Ponds Station was originally known as Railway Street, re-named Puckle Street in 1876 and declared a Public Highway on the 27th May 1887. It is said to be named after the Rev. Edward Puckle, the first incumbent in 1856 until 1878 of St. Thomas's Anglican Church in Mt. Alexander Road.  Electric trams were introduced in 1906 and removed in 1924 after complaints from trader that it was bad for business.  Puckle Street grew from 32 buinesses in 1890 to 77 in 1899.  For more information see - 'The Puckles of Moonee Ponds' by Truda Olson Victorian Historical Journal, Vol. 65 No.1 June 1994. Call No. LH 994.5005 VIC 'Street Names of Essendon, Moonee Ponds, Ascot Vale and Strathmore' 2nd ed. Editor Lenore Frost, 2001. Call No. LH 994.51 STR 'Street Names of Essendon' by Leslie T...