Puckle Street
Moonee Ponds is a well-established shopping centre with a diverse range of retail and commercial activities. The main area is in Puckle Street, which has over 100 retail outlets operating from a variety of Victorian, Edwardian and modern buildings. Puckle Street has long been a street of gaiety, festivity and celebration, especially in the late Friday night shopping periods. The young and old filled the street, dressed in their finery. Anniversaries, centenaries and galas have all been celebrated in the street.
Puckle Street was originally part of McConnell and Ozanne’s Crown Portion, purchased in 1849. A large allotment stretching on the south side of Puckle Street from Mt Alexander Road to a line west of the railway, was first allocated to Thomas Gordon in 1851. On the north, McConnell sold a thin strip, from the line of Margaret Street to Mt Alexander Road, to H.Caine in the same year. By 1890, 30 business houses were listed on the northern side of Puckle Street, while residential development still went ahead on the south.
Puckle Street was Essendon’s most prestigious street. The street was named after Reverend Edward Cannington Puckle who died in 1898 at the age of 99. He was the first Minister of St Thomas Church in Moonee Ponds. He and his wife, Elizabeth Sarah Puckle, married in London where Mr Puckle later became a Church of England minister.
Puckle Street has been the district’s main shopping street for many years. As late as the 1920’s, it would not be unusual to see carcases hanging in front of butcher shops. In 1908, a pipe was erected about 12ft above Mt Alexander Road just north of the street so that spray from it would lay the summer dust to reduce inconvenience to Puckle Street shoppers.
Puckle
Street was Dame Edna Everage’s birthplace. The city of Essendon has honoured Dame Edna by
naming a street – Everage Street – in the suburb she has made famous. Imagine
Barry Humphries’ alter ego Edna Everage coming from a suburb named Kaleno!
Edna doesn’t know how lucky she was, for that was the name some residents
successfully adopted – fortunately for only a short time in place of Moonee
Ponds - in 1879. To Top
Detailed plans of 1905 show the growth of Puckle Street North with all the blocks (except those opposite Shuter Street) being built upon, totalling 73. The electric tramway, via Puckle Street to the Maribyrnong River assisted this growth. Architects involved with the south side of Puckle Street included W.S. Law (85-93 Puckle Street) in 1890, while architect designs of early this century for the north side included Essendon Councillor, G.B Leith’s (presumably with Haddon’s involvement) at 114-20 Puckle Street. The shops at 114-20 Puckle St and residence mark the site of the Wesleyan Church and were built for the Wesleyan Trustees.
Early last century, council permit drawings show many new shop fronts added to earlier buildings. By 1906, photographs show the asphalt footpaths, basalt kerbs and iron gas lamps, which presumably had arrived by the 1890’s. Another redevelopment phase began after World War 1, particularly on the former residential frontages. Later still, Harry A. Norris, architect for G.J. Coles Stores and Co. Ltd provided one of his typically sophisticated designs in 1935.
Puckle Street has been the commercial centre in Essendon since the 1880’s, and was almost entirely built up near its present form by World War 1. Puckle Street is of high local importance and regional interest. Up until 1882, Puckle Street had remained full of tree stumps but had only four residences. Puckle Street was fortunate that Moonee Ponds railway station had been built. The Essendon to North Melbourne Junction railway had been started in the 1850’s and was opened in 1864.
On June 6 1885, the National Bank opened for trading across from the Post Office on Mt Alexander Road, both being approximately 50 metres from the Moonee Ponds Hotel (which was demolished on October 9 1885.)
In September 1890 the gates at the Holmes Road railway crossing were installed. The following year, Glass’s paddock is on the left hand side of Puckle St looking down to the railway station. It was sold and on January 7 1892 the Moonee Ponds Coffee Palace opened on Puckle St. To Top
Later, the horse drawn bus service to Flemington Bridge opened from Puckle Street to meet the old cable tram system and ten years later on April 9 1903, the horse drawn cab service replaced the bus.
On October 22 1903, a site in Puckle Street was bought to replace the State Savings Bank in Mt Alexander Road (which opened in 1899). The new bank opened on December 1 1905 at 39 Puckle Street, the present site. In the 90's, the old state bank was sold to the Commonwealth Bank & reopened as the Commonwealth Bank.
On August 3 1906, the Post Office was moved from Mount Alexander Road to the Puckle and Shuter Street corner. In 1908, electric street lighting replaced the gas lighting.
On December 14 1911, the first of our local theatres in Puckle Street, the Moonee Ponds theatre, was officially opened. On October 5 1914, the public conveniences enclosed by a rockery were opened in Mount Alexander Road.
In 1882, 24 lots each with a fifty-foot frontage on the north side of Puckle Street were sold, all for commercial properties. The southern side were all large houses which belonged to the professional gentlemen of the district. In 1883, Puckle Street was widened from a fifteen-foot access road full of tree stumps into a wide thoroughfare connecting Moonee Ponds station with Mt Alexander Road. The station was redeveloped in 1988.
The Puckle Street shop was the seventh Coles store to be built in Victoria. It was officially opened on August 26 1926. Plaire’s the cake makers, today with 18 branches and run by the third generation of the family, began by selling cakes from a shop in Puckle St. Today it's still situated in Puckle St. To Top
The 1978 experiment of having a mall in Puckle Street was a dismal failure. Traders and residents complained about traffic diversions and said the area was “in turmoil”. Today shopkeepers sometimes add colour to the street by conducting street stalls. The 198-stall Moonee Ponds market, opened in 1975 has added new life and colour to ever-changing Puckle Street.
In June 1989, the council came up with a way to enhance the pedestrian environment of Puckle Street while in the meantime not disrupting the traffic flow through the street. The plan involved a series of footpath widenings at strategic points along the street and the upgrading of a narrow laneway. To encourage the use of the extended footpaths, areas for outdoor eating with outdoor chairs and tables were established.
Puckle
Street and the laneway have received many comments from shop owners and the
community since their completion. The seating areas were all used, as were the
outdoor eating areas as summer approached.
Puckle Street will always have its atmosphere and its history to attract visitors. The street grew from 32 businesses in 1890 to 77 in 1899. A tram commenced operation in Puckle Street in 1906 but it was removed after complaints from traders that it was bad for business.
Various household names in Melbourne and beyond started in Puckle Street and other parts of Moonee Ponds. Some 100 years have passed since Des Nunan, whose name graces Park Street car park began as a major importer of furniture. After the land boom collapsed, he went out of business.
As the population grew, it has become quite a cosmopolitan place with a new major market behind the main street, designer labels and coffee shops. It has also received a seal of approval - official designation as one of Melbourne’s 14 ‘district centres’. To Top
References
Sources from the Local History Room - Sam Merrifield Library Updated June 2001
Moonee Ponds & Puckle Street, The Stopover That Stayed, Grant Aldous
History of Puckle Street, by Dr. Sam Merrifield - Essendon Historical Society Newsletter V.11 No.1 1981
Puckle Street Precinct, Essendon Conservation Study, 1985
Essendon Gazette, Centenary Edition, 24.8.88
End of an era as Coles shut its doors at No.7, Essendon Gazette, 27.9.89
The changing face of Puckle St, Landscape Australia, Stephen Sully & Matthew McFall, 1991
Puckle Street Mall: competition report, Vol.9 No1, Article from Landscape Australia
Puckle Street - how it got a start, Essendon Gazette, 21.10.81
Written &
Researched By Alberta Cutrona