Moonee Valley Family & Local History Blog

Essendon Town Hall with Lending Library inside. Sam Merrifield Local History Collection Local Historian Lenore Frost has been busy over the past few months researching the history of libraries in Moonee Valley. Looking at the libraries of Essendon and Flemington, Lenore tells the story of how libraries begun in our area and how they grew out of a public desire for books. If you're looking to learn about how the libraries of Moonee Valley begun, Lenore's work is a great resource. You can find the link to her time travellers website below: Essendon Time Travellers Blog

If you haven't seen it recently, the Moonee Valley Libraries Facebook page has been posting every Friday an image from Moonee Valley's past. #Flashback Friday as it's known has provided us with some great images. It was great to see a post by Lenore Frost on Friday about the recent photo of the Burke and Wills Tree in Moonee Ponds. After see the image of the tree Lenore had gone and done some research and created a timeline of the tree on her website. To see the timeline and other research post from the Moonee Valley and Keilor areas take a look at Lenore's blog and website. Time Travellers blog Time Travellers website

Earlier this year Nathaniel Jeffery developed http://1945.melbourne/ , a website where you can see what Melbourne looked like 70 years ago and compare it with the Melbourne we all love today. Using aerial images created by the former Department of Crown Lands and Survey in 1945 just after the conclusion of the Second World War, he has been able to create this website. If you're interested in finding out what your suburb used to look like, or like me if you want to know if your suburb even existed (mine didn't) you can visit his website. If you want to get even more in-depth and view the maps as individual images you can visit the Department of Environment, Land, Water & Planning who have put up the maps online and free to download. just select what area you wish to view then click on the scale that your suburb was taken in and select the area you wish to view. To view the sliding map of Melbourne and Victoria from 1945 and 2015 visit: ...

The Essendon Historical Society will be leading historical walks through two different areas of Moonee Valley this January. Each walk costs $10 and includes tea or coffee. The walks take about an hour and a half and return close to their respective points of departure. On 11 January go on A Stroll Through North Essendon . Meet at 2pm at Max's Coffee and Wine Bar on the corner of Mt Alexander Rd and Leake St in North Essendon. And on 18 January, enjoy a walk that takes in Travancore Treasures . Meet at 1.30pm at The School Gates on the corner of Flemington St and Mt Alexander Rd, Flemington. Booking is recommended. Contact EHS on 9370 4607 or esshissoc@mail.com

Moonee Valley Thematic Environmental History (TEH) is available to view online or in hard copy at your local library. The TEH has been prepared in consultation with  a range of community members and Living Histories, and creates a framework for identifying local iconic features, places, people and stories in Moonee Valley. The study provides information on a variety of different themes including migration, farming, recreation, transport, communications, banking and finance, and is a great source for anyone interested in the history and development of Moonee Valley over the last 200 years.