100 years ago
9 March 1922
Fatal Accident
On the 7th February while Mr Frank Stanley Nicholl of Oakleigh accompanied by Mr R C Comely was driving home from his building contract in New Street Dandenong, he was overtaken by a motor from Nar Nar Goon races, going at an excessive speed. Although Mr Nicholl was well on the proper side of the road, the car ran into the junker, smashed it to spinsters and propelled the occupants violently on to the roadway. The driver of the motor drove rapidly away in a cloud of dust, so that it was impossible to get glimpse for identification purposes. Although it was market day in Dandenong, and the main thoroughfare thronged with people and vehicles, some of the race cars going and returning whizzed through at 25 to 30 miles an hour.
50 years ago
9 March 1972
Ferry being built in Dandenong
Max and Betty Curtain’s popular Wedge Swimming Pool in Dandenong is closed temporarily this season and for a very good reason. Max is building another boat. The motor vessel to cost thousands of dollars, will be completed in a month, and will be sailed to Darwin to be used as a 250-passenger harbor ferry. “We’ve had to close the pool temporarily because the welders are in, and it would be dangerous for the children,” said Betty. “The pool has been popular with kids for 12 years.” The new ferry to be christened the Darwin Princess will be one of the largest built in the district.
20 years ago
11 March 2002
HOWZAT
Journal reporter Phil McLeod grew up with comedian Col Elliott in Dandenong. Australia’s best-known comedian was recently back in town. As a cricketer from the Pommies against the Aussies in the Curtain Crescent Ashes, former Dandenong neighbour Colin Elliott is a bloody good comedian. While the world has become his stage, Col say he enjoys coming back to his hometown – he still calls Dandenong home. “It’s a pretty big world away from Dandenong. I’ve been to the States and England and all over the world, but I still enjoy coming home to Dandenong because it’s part of me. Dande is my roots.” Col’s first big break came via a $10 all-the beer-you-could-drink gig at the Dandenong football club, while trying to support his wife and newborn baby in a one-bedroom flat in Hutton Street.
5 years ago
13 March 2017
Reaching for the sky as rail piers cement their pace
The first column for Noble Park’s elevated rail is in place. Dandenong MP Gabrielle Williams visited a work site near Mons Parade to check on the progress on Monday 6 March. The project dubbed sky rail will remove nine level crossings on the Dandenong line – including those at Heatherton, Chandler, and Corrigan roads – and create 22.5 hectares of new open space and parkland.
Compiled by Dandenong & District Historical Society
