The View from Eagle Mount

Posted on Friday, 4th October 2019 by Janine Rizzetti

(From our Facebook site 3rd October 2019)

I think that perhaps this might have been taken from Castle Street, with Banksia Street in the foreground [but I stand ready to be corrected!] You can download the full size image at State Library of Victoria where they date it as c.1900-1909.

So if we look very closely, what can we see?

Well, I can see Mount Street that looks like a double lane road (but it isn’t) leading towards Ekins Pharmacy on the corner of Mount Street and Burgundy Street. Mount Street was originally known as ‘Main Street’ because it was the main access to Heidelberg, coming down from Upper Heidelberg Road.

To the left of Mount Street, I can see the railway tunnel (just one) that runs under Darebin Street. This dates the photo at 1902 or after, when the railway was extended from Heidelberg to Eltham.

To the right of the tunnel, I can see Toryburn, a large white house with a red roof, constructed in 1905. It’s still there in Darebin Street.

I can see Scots Presbyterian Church and its Sunday School Hall in Burgundy Street. Our current exhibition at the Old Heidelberg Court House museum features a signature quilt made by the ladies of Scots Church, and lots of information about the church and its congregation (open Sunday 2-5)

To the right of Scots Church, you can see a double-story building. It was built by John May (the owner of Toryburn) in 1898. It still stands on the corner of Burgundy and Hawdon. It is now a tax agent, but it was for many years a grocers’ shop.

Up above the grocers’ shop and to the left is Cape Street. You’ll have to look hard for a wooden bell tower. It stood beside the Heidelberg Fire Station, opposite Heidelberg Primary School, near where the cafe is now.

Finally, right on the extreme right hand edge is the old Wesleyan Methodist Church in Rosanna Road, where the Inward Goods driveway is to Warringal Shopping Centre today, beside the primary school. The old church, which was later sold to the Rechabites, was demolished in 1969.

Really, you could sit looking at this postcard for hours!