Kalorama
The area around the saddle (where Five Ways sits) was originally known by early settlers and surveyors as The Saddle. In the late 1890s, early pioneer selector Ellis Jeeves established a guest house on his property. A resident guest, the Reverend Henschelwood, suggested the Greek name Kalorama from the Classical Greek kallos (“beautiful”) and horama (“view” or “spectacle”) to reflect the views across both the Yarra Valley and what is now the Silvan Reservoir basin. Jeeves named his property Kalorama House.
Later, when the new post office was formally established at Five ways by Eliza Hand on October 1, 1909, it was named Hand’s Corner Post Office after local pioneer and landholder Thomas Hand. A year later, in 1910, the official postal name was updated to Mount Dandenong North to better identify the locality within official postal directories. Due to ongoing mail delivery confusion with Mount Dandenong proper, the post office was officially renamed Kalorama Post Office in 1926. The name was taken from the nearby Kalorama House guest house established by the Jeeves family.
A more detailed description of the naming of Kalorama can be found on page 3 of our newsletter Mountain Tales, Issue No. 8.
Mount Dandenong
The main peak of the ranges was originally known in the local language as Corhanwarrabul. The European name Dandenong was initially applied to Dandenong Creek with early 19th-century colonial variations including Tanjenong, Tangynon, and Bangeong. Surrounding high country was eventually designated “Mount Dandenong” by 1840s government surveyors. The township itself, situated near the summit, was originally named Middle Dandenong to distinguish it from Upper Dandenong (Kalorama) and Lower Dandenong, before officially shortening to Mount Dandenong in the early 20th century.
Olinda
In 1858 (or 1860 in some survey records), Assistant Surveyor John Hardy mapped the watercourse originating in the high country near Mount Dandenong. He named it Olinda Creek in honor of Alice Olinda Hodgkinson (sometimes recorded as Alice Olinda or Olinda Alice). Prior to this survey, the stream was known locally as Running Creek or Scrubby Creek. Alice was the daughter of the Acting Surveyor-General and later Secretary for Crown Lands and Survey, Clement Hodgkinson. He oversaw much of Victoria’s early land organization and forest conservation planning. It was common practice for surveyors of the era to name natural geographical features after the family members of prominent department officials. The naming of Olinda Creek eventually gave rise to the name of the township of Olinda itself as logging encampments, and later agricultural selectors, established permanent sites near the headwaters of the creek.
Sassafras
When early splitters and surveyors entered the damp gullies along Sassafras Creek in the mid-19th century, they noted an abundance of the aromatic tree Atherosperma moschatum. When bruised or cut, its bark and leaves emit a strong, nutmeg-and-cinnamon aromatic scent almost identical to the North American Sassafras (Sassafras albidum). The settlers applied the familiar name to the native tree—calling it Southern Sassafras—and the creek and gully subsequently took the name.
The locality was originally gazetted and known as Sassafras Gully. When land was opened for village settlements in 1893 and a formal township began to coalesce along the ridgeline, the “Gully” suffix was dropped for the town, though the Sassafras Gully name persisted on postal stamps into the early 1900s and indeed is still the name of the current Post Office (2026).
A more detailed description of the naming of Sassafras can be found on page 3 of our newsletter Mountain Tales, Issue No. 3.
Ferny Creek
The gully containing the creek that rises just south of Dunn’s Hill, had lush banks, lined with Soft Tree Ferns (Dicksonia antarctica) and Rough Tree Ferns (Cyathea australis). The sheer quantity of ferns led early logging splitters to refer to the watercourse as Ferny Creek. The early settlement that grew around the upper reaches was originally serviced by a post office named One Tree Hill (after the nearby high point where a lone prominent mountain ash served as a navigational landmark). In August 1904, the post office and surrounding district were officially renamed Ferny Creek after the creek itself.
Tremont
Origin: French/Latin derived: Tre / Trois (“three”) and Mont (“mountain” or “hill”).
Located along the steep ascent of the Mount Dandenong Tourist Road between Upper Ferntree Gully and Ferny Creek, Tremont was named in the late 19th century. The name literally translates to “Three Mountains” or “Three Hills,” describing the three distinct topographic rises that surround the township’s position on the southern escarpment of the ranges Chandler’s Hill, Dunns Hill, and One Tree Hill.