Mountain Tales: Issue 08

The Mount Dandenong & District Historical Society aims to collect, preserve and share the rich history of the district. The society is especially interested in the communities of Mount Dandenong, Kalorama, Olinda, Sassafras, Ferny Creek and Tremont. These are the ridgetop villages on the mountain range clearly visible from metropolitan Melbourne. The society welcomes new members with an interest in local history and meets each month. It maintains a small collection of significant local history material. We have some limited volunteer capacity to assist with private research. Many of the stories here have previously appeared on the society’s Facebook page. If you would like to learn more, please contact the society’s Secretary via email at mtddhs@gmail.com January 2026 No.8 Sometimes what’s written on old postcards is as important as the image itself … this one is dated in March 1906, earlier than previously thought. The constant tension in the Dandenongs between human impacts and the environment has been a feature of life here since European settlement in the late 19th century. The transformation of the landscape first into farmland and later into holiday and residential use has pitted local government against conservationists, local against local and visitor against resident. The push to establish something as seemingly innocuous as a baby health centre and pre-school became one of the earliest struggles embraced by the Save the Dandenongs League and the formidable Miss May Moon after five towering mountain ash were felled in the main street of Sassafras to make way for the Sassafras Preschool (pictured above) . (Read the full story on page 2.) Inside: How and why Kalorama was renamed … p.3 When the coranderrk blooms … p.4 Peter Witt and the Olinda subdivision … p.5 On the buses … p.6 January 2026 No.8 Child welfare A battle between babies and bushland As communities in the hills grew during the post-war 1940s and 1950s and more families, often with young children, made permanent homes here, a demand arose for infant welfare and pre-school services. In Sassafras, a group of mothers set about to establish a centre to deliver these locally in an age when most families had only one car if they were lucky. Initially a baby health care centre along the lines promoted by Dr Isabella (Isie) Younger Ross OBE (1887-1956), a Melbourne doctor who championed the development of centres for maternal and infant health care, it would later grow to include a preschool. Dr Younger Ross’s pioneering work through the Victorian Baby Health Centres Association (VBHCA) led to the creation of 500 such centres across Victoria between 1917 and her death in 1956. The Sassafras centre was first housed in a small room in the Sassafras Mechanics Institute. It was opened on 24 September 1947 by then Shire of Fern Tree Gully Councillor Violet Lambert in the presence of Dr Younger Ross, who spoke to the assembled guests on the relationship between the centre’s visiting nursing sister and the mother, “and on how a baby can be educated in diet and feeding so that that by a certain age, he can take most of the articles of diet without any upset”. There was a rendition of `Sleep my Princess Sleep’, sung by Mrs Horner and Mrs Hallebone, other songs and, of course, `God Save the King’. Cr Lambert wished the centre’s committee well and “hoped God would bless all the babies of Sassafras”. Years of fundraising followed, with an energetic committee running all manner of open gardens, afternoon teas, flower shows, film nights and other events towards the building of a new centre and pre-school. By the early 1950s, everything was in place for the construction of a purpose-built infant welfare centre on a block of land next to the Mechanics Institute provided by the Shire. Some clearing of the site was reported in July 1953, and £320 had been raised with the promise of more to come. Then, on 22 December 1953, everything seemed to turn to baby custard … Loggers from Monbulk moved in with heavy machinery and took down a number of mountain ash trees around the site, described as “the very lovely and only remaining natural bit of forest in the village”. Five large and several smaller trees were felled and the debris scattered on the ground below. Incensed, the formidable May Moon (1893-1977), whose career as an environmental advocate was already in full flight, wrote to the local and Melbourne papers protesting the destruction of the forest. As honorary secretary of the nascent Save the Dandenongs League, formed in 1950, Miss Moon would lead many campaigns to preserve the character of the hills over the coming years, eventually being awarded an MBE for her efforts. May Moon lived in Kalorama where she had retired, ironically enough given the circumstances of this particular battle, after a career as kindergarten teacher. Dr Doris Officer, secretary of the VBHCA opening the new centre at Sassafras in “How much longer must we wait until legislation19is57e.nforced to prevent this filching of public lands,” she railed in a letter to the Melbourne Herald. Residents of Sassafras were “horrified” by what had occurred, she added. One local paper reported “several local women were in tears” as they watched the operation opposite Storrie’s garage. Equally, if more quietly, formidable was Jean Allen (1921-2011), Sassafras mother, teacher and honorary secretary of the Sassafras and District Infant Welfare and Pre-school Centre. Writing in response in the Herald, Mrs Allen said: “I love nature. But I most certainly would not put five trees that would in time be a danger before the health of our future generations.” She also pointed out that the land had not been “filched” as Miss Moon had suggested but donated by government and that all the appropriate permissions had been granted for taking down the trees. Many years later she would recall simply that the Save the Dandenongs League and Miss Moon “caused a few hiccoughs” at the time. Clearly, however, not everyone was happy … Mrs Jones, the fruiterer, said sacrifices had to be made. But Mrs Bedford, wife of the estate agent, said it was a “scandal” that the beauty of the street should be so marred. The draper, Mr Hodges, was not in favour, nor was Mrs Kemp, proprietress of the Sassafras Cabaret. The pharmacist, Mr Gavan Doolan, trod a fine line. “I’m not opposed to a Baby Health Centre, but those trees – their beauty was unsurpassed. I feel it was a great pity they had to come down,” he commented ruefully. Another correspondent, `J. Erskine of Sassafras’ (likely related to the committee’s treasurer, Mrs J. Erskine, if not one and the same) called for “a sense of proportion” over the tree storm and wrote that “at present the mothers of Sassafras and the surrounding districts must attend their baby health centre in a room in the local mechanics hall. This room is ill-lit, and, despite the best efforts of the hall caretaker and cleaner, dirty and probably rat infested”. The building went ahead; new but not necessarily native trees were planted in the grounds (including an oak donated by the local CWA branch). The new purpose-built centre was opened in early 1957 by Dr Doris Officer (1898-1967) who followed in the footsteps of Dr Younger Ross as secretary of the VBHCA, with local MLA Sir George Knox also in attendance. The Sassafras Preschool continues its work on the site seven decades later. 2 January 2026 No.8 Centenary How and why Kalorama was renamed The old Mt Dandenong Post Office was in the original Beulah Tea Rooms part (centre) of the Five Ways building (above left). Grandma Hand pictured on the balcony of the old tea rooms with her daughter Florence (Photos: MDDHS collection) Next month marks the centenary of another renaming in the hills, when Mount Dandenong North became Kalorama. Earlier this year, the village of Kallista celebrated the centenary of its renaming from South Sassafras. It was not the only local community to undergo such a metamorphosis. One Tree Hill had already become Ferny Creek by 1904 (although the school clung tenaciously to the old name until 1937). Sassafras Gully became just plain Sassafras by attrition, although the post office retains the original official name. Olinda kept its name despite some early rumblings that it should be called Mount Olinda. Further afield, Paradise adopted the more mundane Clematis in 1921. The push to rename the tiny settlement of Mount Dandenong North – the oldest on the ridge top – was largely driven, as were all the others, by postal confusion. Deliveries of mail and other items to the local post office were wont to become confused with those to the Mount Dandenong post office further along the road towards Olinda or even the Dandenong post office many miles away on the flatlands. By the 1920s, there was some agitation from local residents for a change, led by Mr John Valantine (18641938). Born in Carlton, Valantine was co-founder of a Collins Street accounting firm but also had interests in the fruit industry. In retirement he was promoter and organiser of the Fruit Growers Association of Mount Dandenong. Valantine, who lived at `Yama’ in Farringdon Road, was active in local affairs and a leader in the development of the Kalorama reserve and arboretum. When it came to choosing a name, it could have gone one of three ways. A large public meeting chaired by Lillydale Shire president Cr W.J. Watson was held at the Five Ways Tea Rooms on 14 November 1925, and after much discussion and many suggestions the residents submitted three names for consideration by the Postmaster-General. These were Mount Everard, Mount Kalorama and Mount Erith. The most favoured name, Everard, was in honour of William Hugh Everard MLA (1869-1950), an admired parliamentary representative for the local state electoral district of Evelyn from 1917 until his death in 1950. Aside from the fact that in 1926 Everard was still alive and barely mid-career (he would rise to become Speaker of the Legislative Assembly from 1934 to 1937 and briefly to the Ministry), there was the problem of potential confusion with nearby Mount Evelyn and another post office named Everard Central in Tasmania. Erith was the maiden name of the late Mrs Eliza Hand (1832-1918), matriarch of a large local clan, whose daughter Florence opened the store and post office at Mt Dandenong North in 1909. `Kalorama’ – a Greek word meaning beautiful or fine view – was the name of a property owned by another large and prominent family then headed by Ellis Jeeves (1855-1921), whose father Issac Jeeves (1822-78) was one of the earliest settlers. Ellis married Eliza (18671943), a daughter of Thomas and Eliza Hand. Ellis and Eliza Jeeves purchased the popular `Mountjoy’ guesthouse in 1908 and also ran a successful coaching business into the hills. Advice was received in early January 1926 from the then acting deputy director Posts and Telegraphs for the Commonwealth, Andrew Little, that the name Kalorama had been deemed most suitable and approval was given for it to be adopted from 1 February 1926. The Kalorama Post Office operated from the general store site now occupied by Destiny Point Café until 1994, when it moved to the Silvandale store further down the main road towards Montrose. 3 January 2026 No.8 Flora When the coranderrk blooms, it must be … Coranderrk, Sassafras Gully 2025 (Photos: John Schauble) You can always tell when Christmas is near in the hills as the corranderrk comes into bloom. It’s a little later than usual this year, perhaps due to the cooler weather. But it has just started to fill the gullies with its beautiful blooms and fabulous scent. Corranderrk is a Woiwurrung word describing the Victorian Christmas bush (Prostanthera lasianthos) which grows prolifically in the moist gullies of the Dandenongs and Yarra Valley. The Coranderrk Aboriginal Station opened in 1863 near Healesville was named for it. (The station became home to dispossessed Aboriginal people from across Victoria until it was closed in 1924.) Prostanthera lasianthos is found all along the east coast of Australia and in Tasmania, where it is also known as `mountain lilac’. It was first described in European science by the French naturalist Jacques Labillardière in 1806, from a specimen collected in Van Diemens Land (Tasmania) and is of the mint bush genus. It grows locally as a large shrub, although in some locations it can reach up to 10 metres. The flowers are prolific, delicate small white-to-mauve blooms. It is believed that the stems of the bush were used and traded as firesticks by First Nations people (although the djelwuck or Austral mulberry was preferred), while its saplings are said to have been favoured as fishing rods by early settlers. A cultivar, `Kallista pink’, has become a popular garden plant with its mauve-pink flowers. The Victorian Christmas bush is not to be confused with the New South Wales plant so-named (Ceratopetalum gummiferum), a totally different species sporting bright red flowers which also flowers around this time of year and was popular in colonial times as a decoration. Sources and further reading: * https://www.coranderrk.com * Labillardière, Jacques Julien Houton de. 1804. Novae Hollandiae plantarum specimen.Vol. 2. Parisiis: Ex typographia Dominæ Huzard. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/40882105. * Prostanthera lasianthos en Sydenham Edwards, Botanical Register, vol. 2: t. 143 (1816) Leyenda: – a: cáliz, b:corola, c:estambre, d:gineceo. (Image below.) * Beth Gott and John Conran, Victorian Koori Plants, 1991. * G. R. Cochrane, B. A. Furher, E. R. Rotherham and J. H. Willis, Flowers and Plants of Victoria, 1968. Cooking up a storm in the hills … Some community cookbooks down the years: Ferny Creek State School (c.1966), Chestnut Festival (1984), Kennon Uniting Church, Sassafras (c.1990), Sassafras Primary School (1978). 4 January 2026 No.8 Families Peter Witt and the Olinda The frenzied subdivision of the Dandenongs in the early 1920s was a small mirror of the land boom of the 1880s. It was an optimistic age, as people sought respite from the shattering horrors of the Great War but had not reckoned with the Great Depression that was to follow. Old settler blocks were chopped up across the hills, providing lots for weekend cottages or, in some cases, grand holiday homes for Melbourne’s well-to-do. subdivision (Images: MDDHS, SLV) Peter Witt (1847-1922) was the first blacksmith in Olinda. A veteran of the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71, Witt emigrated first to South Australia before settling at Narre Warren. He moved to Olinda in 1898 where he remained until his death. Noted as a man of even temper, he was well-known and respected in the local community. His wife, Louisa [nee Kuhner] (1858-1918) predeceased him. The Witts had six daughters – Chrissie, Katie, Lizzie, Nelly, Dolly and Elsie – and a son, Will. Probate over Peter Witt’s estate was granted to his son William August Witt (1893-1981). Will, a blacksmith like his father, had served in the AIF during war and was still in the army at the time of his father’s death. The estate was valued at £110, of which the land in Main Road, Olinda where Peter Witt’s cottage and smithy were located made up the majority. A block containing these two buildings was reserved, but the remaining land was subdivided, leaving 13 lots for sale, fronting either the Main Road or Witt Street to the rear. Lot 1 is now home to the Olinda Police Station. The CFA station and a couple of adjoining commercial properties occupy other parts of the subdivision. The land was offered for sale on Easter Monday, 2 April 2023, less than a year after Peter Witt’s death, along with items of furniture. All lots were sold by the end of the month, reportedly at good prices. Witt Street eventually disappeared, becoming an extension of Everest Cresent. In 1924, one of the Witts’ daughters, Elsie (1900-1956), married Ferny Creek builder Henry Linden (18991976), son of a village settler and a noted sportsman in his younger days. Henry (or “Chook” as he was nicknamed) was a well-known community leader: captain of the Ferny Creek football team for six years, first captain of the Sassafras-Ferny Creek Fire Brigade, heavily involved in the Ferny Creek Horticultural Society and the Recreation Reserve committee for four decades. He was awarded the British Empire Medal for community service in 1975. Sadly, Elsie predeceased him by 20 years. Transport History in the (road)making at Sassafras After almost 18 months of traffic disruption following a landslip, the Mount Dandenong Tourist Rd overlooked by the historic `Rostrevor’ at Sassafras reopened on 12 December 2025. The complex repair was redesigned mid-stream and involved realigning utilities buried under the pavement. (Photos: John Schauble, Yarra Ranges Council) 5 January 2026 No.8 Public transport On the buses There was a time when seeking to catch a bus along the ridgetop of the Dandenongs was a bit like trying to find a unicorn in the forest. Things have much improved and these days there’s a Route 688 bus (Croydon to Upper Ferntree Gully) along every half-hour or so almost 30 times a day and 15 on weekends. Go back 30 years (probably less) and there were just eight daily bus services during the week, five on Saturdays and none at all on Sundays. Despite this, The Met (the Metropolitan Transit Authority, the first step to public transport privatisation) was in 1992 ambitiously encouraging people to venture out on this rickety system to take `The Met’s Day Trip of The Dandenongs’. “It’s simple,” the Met chortled … catch a train to Belgrave or Croydon, jump on a bus and “get on and off as you please!” Well, perhaps not get on and off too many times lest you become stranded … In gushing tones, the Met’s brochure promised the Dandenongs had something for everyone and at any time of the year. “Spring washes the hills in colour … In summer the parks and gardens provide a welcome respite from the stifling urgency of the city … In autumn the Dandenongs come into their own. They are superb in tonings that are beyond a poet’s words or an artist’s brush strokes”. Winter didn’t have quite the same appeal other than “the promise of a snowfall” or the even slighter chance of seeing the “blanketed paddocks of `Holly Hill'”. Just so long as you didn’t forget that only two buses left Sassafras in the afternoon … at 2.45 and 4.50! Emergencies Fire prevention Back in the “olden days” bushfires were not infrequently started by people stopping to boil a billy on the side of the road or to have a “chop picnic” … hence the entreaty in this poster to ask a local resident for some boiling water rather than start a fire. (You used to be able to get boiling water from the kiosk in the Ferny Creek Recreation Reserve!) Fire prevention posters such as this one were printed on canvas and affixed to posts and signboards across rural Victoria. These remained in use until the Forests Commission of Victoria and its functions were incorporated into a larger government department in the early 1980s. https://victoriancollections.net.au/…/65e170e82a3c0ee e7… (Photo: DEECA collection) 6