18 Fishermen in the Lagoon Sepia photograph Courtesy Doug Beazley A view showing the western jetty and Esplanade West, with Harper's on the left and the pumping station at right. Protection of the fishing fleet was a major concern when plans for reclamation or drainage were put forward. Jack Porrit remembers: In my time it was a great place for the fishermen to tie up their boats and sell their catch direct to the public. They sold beautiful fresh fish of all kinds. 19 Improvements to the Port Melbourne Lagoon Pumping Station Architectural drawings Port Phillip City Collection 20 Proposed Layout of Lagoon, 1928 Copy from original plan Reproduced with permission of the Port of Melbourne Authority In 1929 the last section of the Lagoon was filled. This plan shows the joining of the old Military Road (now Beaconsfield Parade) with Beach Road to create for the first time a continuous road along the foreshore from Port Melbourne to St Kilda. The west and east jetties were preserved from the low water mark out. 21 The Lagoon Filled C1931 Black and white photograph Port Phillip City Collection This view over Harper's factory complex and the infilled Lagoon shows the 1928 plan was modified. The eastern jetty (known today as Lagoon Pier) has been extended by a curved arm to provide additional protection for the fishing fleet, which is moored between the jetties. The smaller jetty will be demolished decades later, as will the Pickles Street jetty at upper left. The original Port Melbourne Yacht Club founded by thefishermen is seen on the beach. The Lagoon itself is still there. It's under the road. The wharves and all are still there.... Four or five years ago they were doing work over at the Lagoon Oval, and digging down they found timber....You know, I reckon there'd be old boats and everything there; they've just covered them up. 22 Aerial View of Port Melbourne, 1931 Black and white photograph Port Phillip City Collection * 2 3 Early map c l 8 4 0 Robert Hoddle Copy of original map Reproduced with permission of the Keeper of Public Records Early settlement was determined byfinding a safe anchorage as at Sandridge and suitable high ground as at Emerald Hill and St Kilda.
24 Plan of allotments marked at Sandridge in the Parish of South Melbourne, 1849 Lindsay Clarke Reproduced with permission of the Keeper of Public Records Robert Hoddle had planned streets for Sandridge as well as Melbourne, but his layout was not strictly followed when thesefirst streets were finally made. Here is the tiny, ten year old settlement in 1849. A scattering of buildings has been added and the Government's new jetty has replaced Liardet's original. Existing tents and humpies are not depicted. There are sand dunes to the west, and on the east the Lagoon - not yet opened to the bay. There were about 40 residents in Sandridge at this time. 25 Plan of the Township of Sandridge, 1855 Photocopy Reproduced with permission of the Keeper of Public Records By 1855 the Colony of Victoria had been transformed by the gold rush. Thefirst railway was completed in 1854. The bay was jammed with ships (many abandoned for the goldfields) and Sandridge the bustling port town had a population nearing three thousand. The price of land rose even more steeply here than in Melbourne. At the first Sandridge land sale in 1850 the impoverished Liardet, whose applications for a land grant had been denied, was required to bid for his own hotel and many other improvements. Observe how the growth of the Borough has been confined by the Lagoon and the railway. The many swampy areas, ponds and lagoons were gradually infilled and built upon. 26 Sandridge Foreshore and Piers from the Sugar Works, c l 8 7 2 Black and white photograph Port Phillip City Collection As early as the 1850s the trees had gone, the Lagoon was polluted, the clean, white beach was a mess of abandoned furniture, anchors and bits of old boats and jetties. When this photo was displayed in the Melbourne Exhibition, maritime activity had quietened somewhat and the area, though barren, seems to have been cleaned up perhaps by the new Borough Council established in 1860. Looking down over Town Pier from the top of the Sugar Works the Pier Hotel is on the right, and two of the Borough's smaller jetties and Railway Pier are to the west. Beyond, faintly visible, is the long enclosure of Watson's Baths. 27 Bird's Eye View of Port Melbourne, c l 8 8 5 Reproduced from original wood engraving LaTh)be Collection, State Library of Victoria This 1880s bird's eye view of Sandridge, renamed Port Melbourne in 1884, is full of intriguing detail. Emerald Hill's new Town Hall is visible at far right, and housing