A brief history of the Dandenong Ranges

How the ranges were formed

More than 300 million years ago a large volcano spewed four lava flows from the area centered near the present township of Olinda. The first massive flows spread as far north as Coldstream, the second flow spread southwards past Ferntree Gully (which today is the base of the ranges as seen from Melbourne), the third lava flow was thinner and formed a platform between the first two flows while the fourth flow of thicker lava reached as far as Emerald. After prolonged weathering these volcanic rocks broke down to form the rich soil in the forested ranges.

The first inhabitants

The first people to arrive in the Dandenong Ranges were the aborigines. There may have been two migrations of aboriginal people to the area with the first being smaller statured aborigines similar to the Tasmanian aborigines who arrived around 40 – 60,000 years ago during an ice age when the sea levels where lower than now and a land bridge existed between Asia and Australia. It is believed they were followed by a second, taller race who were unable to cross Bass Strait into Tasmania because of the higher sea levels.

When white man arrived, the Dandenongs were part of the tribal territory of the Wurundjeri tribe. They used the Dandenongs for their summer hunting and gathering, often coming to the hills for rest, to enjoy the cool climate or to recover after ill-health or battle. They named the area Corrhanwarrabul – meaning a desirable place where birds sang, kangaroos jumped and lyrebirds perform. The rich volcanic soils, coupled with a rainfall of up to 1400mm in parts produced a veritable paradise with mighty mountain ash soaring up to 100 metres and permanent streams descending on both the west and eastern sides of the ranges.

White settlement

James Clow was the first white man to claim large tracts of the Dandenongs for his own and his land stretched from the present city of Dandenong through to Olinda and Monbulk. He named his property after the aboriginal name for the area – Corrhanwarrabul. Other settlers followed and soon the whole of the Dandenongs was taken up by settler’s runs. The unique flora of the area attracted many botanists and in the 1870’s Baron von Mueller, Victoria’s Government Botanist, set up a semi-permanent camp at the Basin in order to make an intense study of the Dandenong's flora.

The timber of the area was much sought after for a variety of uses and the majestic mountain ash were felled to use as masts in the sailing ships of that time. Hence the name “Mast Gully” creek. A timber camp was opened at Olinda in 1855 and another at Kallista in the 1860’s, followed by one at Sassafras in the 1870’s. The timber was taken out (usually by bullock teams) down a track through the present Ferntree Gully to Oakleigh – the location of the nearest main road.

During the 1880’s and the 1890’s a policy of allocating 10 acre farmlets to poverty stricken city folk resulted in substantial loss of forested areas in the Dandenong Ranges.

Kalorama

Kalorama, a residential area in the Mount Dandenong Ranges, is only 36 km east of the City of Melbourne. The easiest way to get there is by the Mt Dandenong Tourist Road which is situated at the end of Canterbury Road.

The eastern part of Kalorama is not subdivided and is mainly a water catchments reserve and part of the Dandenong Ranges National Park. These large tracts of parkland and forest reserve provide a very special residential environment for those people lucky enough to live in the area.

Some of the local houses date from pre-war times when Kalorama was a weekend resort. Several of these historic places continue to offer accommodation to visitors including a number of very romantic, luxury Bed and Breakfast places such as Holly Lodge.

Along the Mount Dandenong Tourist Road there are many attractions to enjoy on a lazy day exploring: Kalorama Park, Kalorama Memorial Reserve with sports facilities, an Australian plant garden, café’s and an art gallery. There is a special viewing area at the Five Ways Corner with a panoramic view over the Sylvan Reservoir and the Olinda State Forest to the Warburton Ranges.

The name “Kalorama” was coined about the turn of the century by a Reverend Henschelwood who was a guest of local resident, Ellis Jeeves. He used a derivation of the Greek word KOLOS which meant “beautiful view”. Ellis Jeeves was so taken by the name his friend had created that he called his home “Kalorama”.

The name Kalorama was applied to the district between 1926 to 32 when, in order to overcome postal confusion, the name was chosen from a list submitted at a public meeting.

Kalorama Park

For many years the Jeeves family ran a coach service, and after the Tourist Road was built in the 1920’s this service became motorised. There was a garage and petrol station on what is now the look-out car park. The 1939 bush fires caused havoc in the area; the garage was destroyed and the family began to move away. Parts of the land had been sold to build the Tourist Road, other parts obtained by the water board as reserve land for Silvan Dam (built about 1930), and yet more had been sold off as building blocks. In the 1950’s large sections of the hillside remained unused, much of it was still the property of the Jeeves family.

As early as 1953, Professor John Turner (for a long time President of the Save the Dandenong League) made efforts, in conjunction with Melbourne's Lord Mayor, to acquire the first section of Kalorama Park. An initial agreement was negotiated but, heartbreakingly, the sale fell through on the day the contract was to be signed. For some years there was no further action on trying to form a park until a Lilydale Shire Plan was published, showing the top section of the proposed park subdivided into fifteen foot allotments for shops. This threat provided the impetus for the purchase of a twenty acre section in 1963. The league raised ₤5,000 through an appeal in the Herald newspaper. A further twenty acres was bought by the Government and the Park was opened by Professor Turner in April 1973.