An Acrostic History of Koo-Wee-Rup

This is an eclectic look at some themes from Koo Wee Rup's  history and the first letter of each theme spells a seasonal greeting!  I did this one for the Koo Wee Rup township newsletter, The Blackfish, in December 2016. I did a similar one for the Garfield township newsletter, The Spectator, in December 2017.  You can read the Garfield one, here.

M is for Mickle.  A well known, early family in the area. John Mickle (1814-1885) owned land from the 1850s, with his business partners William Lyall (who built Harewood) and John Bakewell.  John’s brother, Alexander Mickle, managed his property at Yallock. Alexander’s son, John, sub-divided John Street, Mickle Street and Alexander Avenue (now incorrectly called Alexandra) in Koo Wee Rup in 1926. David Mickle, the author of local history books Mickle Memories of Koo Wee Rup and More Mickle Memories of Koo Wee Rup, is the grandson of Alexander. 

E is for Education.  The first School was established in 1884 between Koo Wee Rup and Bayles (at Bethunes Road). It was known as the Yallock School until 1903 when the name was changed to Koo Wee Rup. In 1910, the school moved to Rossiter Road (to the Secondary College location) and a new building was built in 1915. In 1953, the Higher Elementary School was completed. This School included both primary and secondary classes (Forms 1 to 3 or Years 7 to 9). The School became a High School in 1957 and shared the building with the primary school students until November 1960 when the Primary School opened in Moody Street.  St John the Baptist Catholic School opened in 1936.

R is for roads, rates and rubbish - the historical purpose of local councils. Koo Wee Rup was part of the Cranbourne Road Board district when it was established on June 19, 1860. Then it became part of the Cranbourne Shire when it started on February 24, 1868. It was then part of the short lived City of Cranbourne which lasted from April 22, 1994 until December 15, 1994, when the City of Cranbourne and was broken up and Koo Wee Rup became part of the newly created Cardinia Shire.

R is for Recreation and other Community activities. A Cricket Club started in 1893, the Recreation Reserve opened in 1906, and a football team had started by 1907. The Royal Hotel was erected in 1915. The Masonic Lodge commenced in 1923. The Wattle Picture Theatre was opened in 1927, the same year the Koo Wee Rup Electric Light and Power Company supplied electricity to the town. In 1929, the first Koo Wee Rup Scout Troop was formed. To add further to the amenity of the town in 1930 the water tower and the water supply system opened and in 1943 the Fire Brigade was formed.

Masonic Lodge at Koo Wee Rup. The Lodge was built in 1923 and has since 

been extended and new facade fitted. 

Photo courtesy of  Graham Elso.

Y is for Yallock.  The first European settlement in the area was established by Samuel Rawson and Robert Jamieson on the Yallock Creek Cattle run in 1839. The Yallock Village Settlement, established in the 1890s, was based around Fincks, School, Hall and O'Briens Roads, off Koo Wee Rup Longwarry Road. The Bayles Railway Station, which opened in 1922, was the station closest to Yallock and the township which grew around the railway station soon overshadowed the original Yallock settlement.

C is for Carlo Catani. Catani (1852-1918) was a Public Works Department Engineer responsible for the drainage works on the Koo Wee Rup Swamp from 1893. He also established the Village Settlements at Yallock, Five Mile, Cora Lynn, Iona etc. The town of Catani is named after him. His other works in Victoria include the creation of Alexandra Avenue, which runs along the Yarra River, snd the design of the Alexandra Gardens; the reclamation of the St Kilda foreshore and the design of the gardens there, which were named in his honour in 1927; engineering the road to the top of Mount Buffalo and the creation of a recreational lake, Lake Catani; the drainage of the Moe Swamp.

H is for Historical Society. The Koo Wee Rup Swamp Historical Society was established in 1974 and operates a Museum at Mallow, 325 Rossiter Road, Koo Wee Rup. Mallow was built by John Colvin for his daughter, Margaret, who married Les O’Riordan in August 1918. Les was born in  August 1892 to John and Elizabeth (nee O'Callaghan) O'Riordan and is said to have been the first white child born in the Koo Wee Rup Village settlement. Elizabeth had been born in the town of Mallow, County Cork, Ireland, hence the name of the property.

R is for Religion.  In 1896 the Wesleyan Church from Cranbourne was moved to Koo Wee Rup and became the Presbyterian Church. The first Catholic Church was built in 1902 and the current church dates from 1962. The Anglican Church was built in 1917 and closed in 2012 and the congregation moved to the Uniting Church. The Methodist Church (now Uniting) was moved from Yallock to Rossiter Road in 1932. In 1978 this building was moved to a camp in Grantville and a wooden church, the Narre Warren East Uniting Church, was relocated to the site, it was given a brick veneer and a new hall added and opened on February, 3 1980.

St George's Anglican Church, Koo Wee Rup, 1940s. The building opened in 1917.

I is for Inundation. Early pioneers had to cope with numerous inundations or floods- 1901, 1911, 1916, 1923, 1924, 1934, 1935 and 1937 being some of the worst historically. The 1934 flood resulted in the Koo Wee Rup township being under two meters of water in places.

S is for Swamp.  The Koo Wee Rup Swamp originally covered about 40,000 hectares or 96,000 acres and is part of the Western Port sunkland.  The Chief Engineer of the Public Works Department, William Thwaites (1853 - 1907) surveyed the Swamp in 1887 and his report recommended the construction of the Bunyip Main Drain from where it entered the Swamp, in the north, to Western Port Bay and a number of smaller side drains. A tender was advertised in 1889. In spite of strikes, floods and bad weather by March 1893, the private contractors had constructed the 16 miles of the drain from the Bay to the south of Bunyip and the Public Works Department considered the Swamp was now dry enough for settlement. At one time over 500 men were employed and all the work was done by hand, using axes, shovels, mattocks and wheel barrows. By 1904, over 2,000 people including 1,400 children lived on the Swamp. Many more drains have been added over the years.

T is for Trains. The Koo Wee Rup Railway station was opened on August 18, 1889. The Station was originally called Yallock and was re-named Koo Wee Rup in 1892. In 1922, Koo Wee Rup became a railway junction with the opening of the Strzelecki railway line. This was a boom time for the Station. In 1926 eleven people were employed at the Koo Wee Rup Station and they dispatched 50,000 tons of goods and around 7,000 head of livestock were sent or received there. There were 48 passenger trains and 72 goods trains per week. The Strzelecki line was closed in stages and the last stretch from Bayles to Koo Wee Rup closed in 1959. Passenger services to Koo Wee Rup ceased in June 1981, were reinstated December 1984 and ceased again in July 1993.

M is for Medical Matters.  A Bush Nursing Centre was established in 1918. In 1923 the  Fallen Soldiers' Memorial Hospital opened in Station Street and moved to a new building, the Westernport Memorial Hospital,  in Rossiter Road in 1955. In 1946, the Infant Welfare Centre was opened in a room at the Memorial Hall and in 1953 the Pre-School opened.

The Westernport Memorial Hospital in Koo Wee Rup under construction, photo taken February 5, 1955.

Koo Wee Rup Swamp Historical Society collection

A is for Agriculture. By the 1920s, the Koo-Wee-Rup Swamp was producing one quarter of Victorian potatoes and was also a major producer of dairy products. Today, more than 90% of all Australian asparagus is produced on the Koo Wee Rup Swamp and many other food items are grown including broccolini, strawberries, cabbage, leeks, celery and lettuces. If the Government can resist the temptation to rezone all the rich agricultural swamp land to residential then the Swamp should continue to produce food for at least another 120+ years.

S is for Shopping. The first shop was opened by John O’Riordan in 1890 in a tin shed where Light’s Garage is now located. Many of the shops in Rossiter Road were built in the 1920s and 1930s, as was the old Theatre and a few garages. This was a boom time for the town with the Hospital, State Rivers & Water Supply Commission, surrounding farms and the railways all providing a steady source of employment.

The 1937 flood

It is eighty years since the Koo-Wee-Rup Swamp experienced the second largest flood in its history. The largest flood took place in the first week of December 1934. The 1937 flood hit the area on October 18 and water was 60cm deep in Rossiter Road and Station Street in Koo Wee Rup. The flood peaked at 20,000 cusecs (50,000 megalitres) about half the 1934 flood volume. There had also been a smaller flood of around 10,000 cusecs in April 1935. 

Station Street, Koo Wee Rup October 20, 1937

State Rivers and Water Supply Commission photograph

The 1937 flood was caused by an extraordinary amount of rain over the proceeding few days. The Argus of October 20 1937 had a map showing the rainfall totals of the five days from the 14^th to the 18^th of October and Dandenong had 532 points (just over 5 inches or 125 ml) and Gembrook had 977 points – close to 10 inches. The Pakenham Gazette reported that Pakenham had over 4 inches at the same time and Pakenham Upper 7.5 inches.  As you would expect, with that amount of rain, parts of Melbourne including the Yarra River and the Patterson River also flooded.

The Koo-Wee-Rup Sun of October 21 1937 reported that the experience of previous floods had taught Swamp settlers the lesson of removing stock and what property that could be shifted to higher levels and this precaution, as far as possible, was taken. Therefore although the body of water was almost as great as the 1934 flood, damage to the above was in no way as large. Crops however suffered in many cases owing to the waters being diverted since then, there were many cases in which settlers fared worse by this deluge. The Koo Wee Rup Sun estimated the damage at £50,000.

The townsfolk placed the blame for the water in Koo Wee Rup squarely on the closure of the openings in the railway embankment which caused the water to be bottled up in the town. They were made even angrier by the fact that this was seen to be the cause of the town being flooded in the 1934 and 1935 floods and there had been no action to rectify the problem. The Koo Wee Rup Defence Corporation was established after the 1937 flood, at a representative meeting of trades people, residents and farmers of the township and district... Nothing but bitterness was expressed at the continued apathy of Government bodies in ignoring all the past representations and in failing to at least take measures to ameliorate the consequences of the disastrous flooding.  The Koo Wee Rup Sun reported that in 1934, the Premier, Mr Dunstan, had promised to go into the question of co-ordination of the Railways and the State Rivers & Water Supply Commission but up to the present had sat idle.

Letter to the Editor of The Argus October 25, 1937

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11103142

There was a lot of publicity about the effect of the flood in the Koo Wee Rup township but surrounding areas also suffered as testified in this letter to the editor of The Argus on October 25, 1937 signed ‘Also a mug’ from Cora Lynn.  

 It is a cause of annoyance to residents of Cora Lynn and adjoining districts to read in the newspapers, and to hear over the air, the plight of the people of Koo-wee-rup. We are sorry for them, but they have the railway to remove them from the danger zone. They have many more hours of warning than we, with greater facilities for getting away. The water that floods Koo-wee-rup has previously surged over our lands and homes. Long before the flood reaches us in Cora Lynn all means of exodus have been cut off by the flooding of such towns a Vervale, Iona, Tynong, and Garfield for the most part. Cora Lynn is in a very decided depression, and, in my opinion, suffers more than most of the unhappy districts during the awful floods which visit us with monotonous regularity.

Click here to see photos of Cora Lynn in the 1937 flood.

The Age of October 19, 1937 had this report about the effect of the floods in the local area.

The rain continued almost continuously until to-day, when about 4 inches had been registered. At Picnic Point the Tarago River overflowed several properties. At Longwarry it flooded the butter factory to a depth of 4 feet, causing considerable damage to the machinery. Stores had to be removed to the mechanics' hall for safety. North of Garfield, Cannibal Creek over flowed its banks by 5 feet, and properties in this area were flooded. The Ararat Creek between Tynong and Nar Nar Goon became flooded, and there was 3 feet of water on Princes Highway. The

Longwarry-Nar Nar Goon road, which runs parallel to the railway line, was submerged for more than half a mile. The railway embankment and line was washed out for a distance of 26 chains, and the railway service was disorganised. Buses had to run from Nar Nar Goon to Bunyip.

 The main canal fed by Bunyip and Tarago rivers first overflowed its banks at Cora Lynn, but later it overflowed near Long-bridge, between Longwarry and Bunyip. The water is now over the Princes Highway and the the Longwarry-Nar Nar Goon road. Many residents have been compelled to go to Bunyip, as their homes have been flooded. Stock, sheep and pigs, wherever possible, have been removed to higher ground.

At Cora Lynn there is 5 feet of water in the Drouin Co-operative Cheese Factory, and at Keast Hall the water is flowing through the windows. At the railway bridge between Bunyip and Longwarry the river overflowed its banks. The Bunyip show ground is submerged to a depth of 2 to 3 feet, and water is flowing copiously across the old racecourse. The golf links is a lake of water. Many residents have water running through their homes and women and children have been removed to places of safety. It is feared that if the rain continues throughout the night the record flood of 1934 will be eclipsed.

  

A report in The Age of October 20 said that the ballast that had been washed away from the railway line between Nar Nar Goon and Tynong was replaced the day before and by 10.00am the line was ready for light traffic. The Argus of October 20 reported on the telephone lines The exchange at Iona, near Bunyip, went out of order when flood waters reached the cables. The exchange was in touch with Melbourne, but could not give connection to subscribers. Men were working on the fault last night, and expected to have the lines clear by this morning. All other country exchanges carried on services.

Koo Wee Rup October 19, 1937 - the water tower in the background gives an indication of the location of the photo. 

State Rivers and Water Supply Commission photo

As we saw before there was widespread unhappiness and anger after the 1934 flood and, as a result, the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission (SRWSC) worked on new drainage plans for the Swamp and these plans became known as the Lupson Report after the complier, E.J Lupson, an Engineer. A Royal Commission was also established in 1936. Its role was to investigate the operation of the SRWSC. The Royal Commission report was critical of the SRWSC’s operation in the Koo-Wee-Rup Flood Protection District in a number of areas and it ordered that new plans for drainage improvements needed to be established and presented to an independent authority. Mr E. G Richie was appointed as the independent authority. The Richie Report essentially considered that the Lupson Report was “sound and well considered” and should be implemented. Work had just begun on these recommendations when the 1937 flood hit the area

The main recommendation of the Lupson / Ritchie report was the construction of the Yallock outfall drain from Cora Lynn, cutting across to Bayles and then essentially following the line of the existing Yallock Creek to Western Port Bay. The aim was to take any flood water directly to the sea so the Main Drain could cope with the remaining water. The Yallock outfall drain was started in 1939 but the works were put on hold during World War Two and not completed until 1956-57. The Yallock outfall drain had been originally designed using the existing farm land as a spillway i.e. the Main Drain would overflow onto existing farmland and then find its own way to the Yallock outfall drain. Local farmers were unhappy at this, as the total designated spillway area was 275 acres. They suggested a spillway or ford be constructed at Cora Lynn so the flood water would divert to the outfall drain over the spillway. The spillway was finally constructed in 1962.

An Acrostic History of Garfield

This is an eclectic look at some themes from Garfield's  history and the first letter of each theme spells a seasonal greeting! I did this one for the Garfield township newsletter, The Spectator, in December 2017.  I did a similar one for the Koo Wee Rup township newsletter, The Blackfish, in December 2016. You can read the Koo Wee Rup one, here.

M is for Movies, shown at the Picture Theatre. The Garfield Picture Theatre opened with a Grand Ball on Monday, December 22, 1924. Apart from the Picture Theatre locals could also view movies at the Wattle Theatre at Koo Wee Rup and King’s Picture Theatre at Pakenham, which both opened in 1927. Harrington’s Electra Pictures had been shown at the Garfield Hall and films were shown at Tynong - there is still a bio box or projection room, which is currently inaccessible, at the Hall.  The original Bunyip Hall also showed movies however, when it burnt down in March 1940, the ‘picture plant’ was destroyed. The Garfield Theatre closed in the early 1960s although it did reopen weekends in 1970 and 1971. The Theatre has more recently been extensively renovated and is now a live music venue.

Garfield Picture Theatre, 1920s/1930s

Image: Koo Wee Rup Swamp Historical Society

E is for Education.  The first school in town, the Cannibal Creek State School, opened in 1886. The School was located on the Princes Highway, west of North Garfield Road. The school changed its name to Garfield around May 1887. In 1899, the School building was re-located to Garfield Road at the top of the hill, half way between the Princes Highway and the Railway Station. In 1910, the Garfield School No. 2724 moved to a new building on its present site near the Railway Station. The old building was removed in 1914 to North Garfield where it became State School No.3489.

R is for Religion.  Garfield has had a number of Churches - St Mary’s Church of England or Anglican Church was opened in March 1935 by Archdeacon Weir of Sale. It was dedicated to the memory of the late Mrs Beswick, who had raised funds for the building.  It was demolished in 2010. The Uniting Church began life as the Methodist Church. There was a Methodist congregation in Garfield from the 1910s, but I am not sure if they met in the Hall initially or a purpose-built Church as I don’t have a date for the construction of the church. There was a Presbyterian Church at Iona which opened in 1908 and, also at Iona is St Joseph’s Catholic Church which opened in 1900. The existing brick Catholic church dates from 1940.

R is for Racing. The first race meeting was held on Wednesday, March 12, 1902 at the Recreation Reserve. The Garfield Race Club had fluctuating fortunes - it went quiet over the War Years but had a revival in the 1920s - a Race meeting held in November 1920 had so many horses entered that the last race had to be abandoned or else the horses and patrons would miss the special train back to Melbourne at 5.55pm. In March 1923, a report says that over £400 was spent in remodeling the track. However, in 1933 the Chief Secretary wanted to curtail the number of race meetings in country areas and thus at a meeting held in the July, Garfield had its races reduced from two to zero, and Bunyip, Iona, Cora Lynn Clubs also suffered a similar fate. So, it was all over for Garfield and these other Clubs.

Y is for Youngsters.  The Garfield Baby Health Centre was opened in July 1935 with Mrs J. Patterson as President and Mrs A. Nutting as Secretary. Sister Mitchell was in charge. A new Infant Welfare Centre and Pre-School was constructed on the corner of Main Street and the Fourteen Mile Road in 1952. It was built by E.C Cox & Sons.  In that year, the Clinic cared for 42 babies under two years old and 6 infants over two - with a total of 351 visits for the year. 

The  Infant Welfare Centre and Pre-School that was built in 1952.

Image: Casey Cardinia Libraries, Shire of Pakenham photo.

C is Cars. The first cars appeared in the town in the 1910s and by the 1920s cars were increasing in popularity.  From the 1940s Frank Dean had the garage near the bakers and George Hamm had the garage near the Hotel. Hamm’s garage was taken over by L.J Brenchley in March 1947 and the Brenchley family operated the garage for decades after and were Austin and Morris dealers.

H is for Hall. The Hall was built by Ingebert Gunnulson and opened December 1904. The usual range of events were held in the Hall - dances, dinners, use as a polling booth, concerts, wedding receptions etc. Then on Thursday, April 15 in 1937 the Hall was destroyed by fire. It had apparently started at 1.30am in the supper room and everything was destroyed. It was rebuilt and was re-opened possibly as early as September 22 the same year. The Hall was destroyed by fire, once again, in February 1984.

R is for Reading Newspapers (the way we used to get news before the Internet). This area is fortunate that its history has been recorded in local newspapers since the 1860s. The South Bourke and Mornington Journal was published from 1865 and covered everywhere from Dandenong to Warragul to Phillip Island to Mornington.   Garfield and Bunyip have had coverage in the West Gippsland Gazette which started in 1898 and became the Warragul Gazette in 1931. The same publisher also had the Bunyip Free Press from around 1909 to 1915. The Bunyip & Garfield Express was published from 1883 to 1979. The area is now covered by the Pakenham Gazette, which started in 1909 and is still owned by the Thomas family.

I is for Iona Hotel.   The Iona Hotel at Garfield was originally opened around April 1904. A newspaper report of April 13, 1904 said the hotel is of very pretty design, presenting a thoroughly up to date appearance. The hotel had twenty-nine rooms including the bar room, parlours, commercial room, dining rooms, drawing rooms, billiard room with a full sized Alcock's table and fixtures and sixteen bedrooms. The building was constructed of weatherboard and had gas lighting and an 'excellent' septic sewerage system. There was also substantial stabling. Sadly, the hotel was destroyed by fire on April 23, 1914. The existing Hotel was erected the next year and a report in the South Bourke and Mornington Journal from May 27, 1915 stated that no expense had been spared by the proprietors to make it all respects one of the best equipped hotels in the colony.

S is for Swamp.  Garfield owes some of its early prosperity to the drainage of the Koo Wee Rup Swamp as it became a service town for the Swamp residents.  The Swamp originally covered about 40,000 hectares. The Chief Engineer of the Public Works Department, William Thwaites, surveyed the Swamp in 1887 and his report recommended the construction of the Bunyip Main Drain from where it entered the Swamp, in the north, to Western Port Bay and several smaller side drains.  Work started in 1889 and despite strikes, floods and bad weather by March 1893, the private contractors had constructed the 16 miles of the drain from the Bay to the south of Bunyip and the Public Works Department considered the Swamp was now dry enough for settlement. At one time over 500 men were employed, and all the work was done by hand, using axes, shovels, mattocks and wheel barrows. By 1904, over 2,000 people including 1,400 children lived on the Swamp. Many more drains have been added over the years.

T is for Timber Industry.  The Gippsland Railway line to Sale was opened in stages between 1877 and 1879. Sidings developed along the line which allowed timber to be despatched and so the local timber industry boomed.  In Garfield, Jefferson’s Saw Mill and brick works and the Cannibal Creek Saw Mill Company were established. Joseph Jefferson established a saw mill in 1877 on the site of what was to become his clay pit, off Railway Avenue. He sent this timber out via Bunyip Station until the Cannibal Creek Siding was built in 1885 to accommodate the timber tramline which run for about 8 kilometres, to the Two-Mile Creek. The Garfield North road basically follows this tramway.  As well as producing timber products Jefferson also mined the sand on his property to be used in the building industry in Melbourne and when he discovered clay on his property he began making clay bricks. The 1880s was a boom time for Victoria and Jefferson could produce over 50,000 bricks per week and fire 75,000 at a time in his kiln. The Depression of the 1890s saw a decline in the building industry which flowed onto his business and the brickworks eventually shut down in 1929.

M is for Medical Matters - the Garfield Hospital. The push to get a hospital in Garfield started about 1930 when the community raised around £340, but due to the Depression the momentum for Hospital slowed. Money continued to be raised, new Committees were formed in 1940 and again in 1945 but all the development was stalled due to the Second World War. After the War there was still no government finance available. Various submissions were made in the 1950s to the Hospital Commission to get the Garfield Hospital established but to no avail. In the end the Garfield money (over £2,600) was added to the money left to the community by local chemist, Mr Emile Shelley, and it went towards the Shelley Memorial Hospital at Bunyip which opened in March 1966 and closed in May 1991. The building is now part of Hillview Hostel.

A is for Agriculture. Garfield is surrounded by farms - apple orchards were planted north of the town in the hills area from around 1890.  South of the town was the Koo Wee Rup Swamp which by the 1920s, was producing one quarter of Victorian potatoes and was also a major producer of dairy products. Today, over 90% of all Australian asparagus is produced on the Koo‐Wee‐Rup Swamp and many other food items are grown including broccolini, strawberries, cabbage, leeks, celery and lettuces.

S is for Shops and Businesses. According to the 1903 Electoral Roll the following businesses were in Garfield - there were three bakers, two blacksmiths and two butchers. There was a Draper and three men with the occupation of storekeepers. George and Thomas Ellis were Produce Merchants and Joseph Rutledge was a saddler.  Garfield had one builder and three carpenters - Ingebert Gunnulson, Samuel Harvey and Phillip Leeson. Joseph Jefferson is listed as a brick maker and John Jefferson as a wood merchant. To satisfy the grooming needs of Garfield, Percy Malcolm was a hairdresser and John Daly, the School Teacher, took care of educational needs. There was also one woman with an occupation listed – Florence Mason was the Post Mistress.