Frankston's History
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Page Links
- Bunurong/Boon wurrung People
- Fishing Village 1850's
- First Railway Line 1870 - 1900's
- Tourist Resort to a Booming Town
- Fabulous Frankston
- Significant Dates in Frankston's History
- The Population of Frankston from Recorded Census
- Frankston City Council Acknowledges Indigenous Culture
Links with Further Information
- Frankston Oral History
- Frankston Heritage
- Frankston's Hall of Fame
- Frankston's Cultural Drive
- Frankston's Demographics
- Indigenous Communities
Bunurong/Boon wurrung People
The traditional land-owners in and around Frankston are the Bunurong / Boon wurrung people. The Bunurong / Boon wurrung territory stretched from Werribee, expanding north, as well as continuing east and south along the Mornington Peninsula. The specific Bunurong / Boon wurrung clan who lived in the area now known as Frankston was the Yallacut Willem clan.
The Bunurong / Boon wurrung were hunter-gatherers living on local natural produce including animals, plants, fish and shellfish. The Bunurong / Boon wurrung did not use boats, but fished from shallow waters using nets. Men hunted while women gathered plants.
Frankston foreshore and the Kananook Creek area provided ideal places to fish and hunt for fish, eels and salt water plants. The Kananook Creek also provided drinking water, encouraged animals to the area and nourished other plants and trees.
Occupation of the Port Phillip region in the early 19th century had a profound impact on the area's Aboriginal population. By then, the population in this location had fallen from 500 people to 83 people. Diseases brought in by Europeans accounted for 65% of the demise the Bunurong / Boon wurrung. Frontier violence was another major cause of death. Disruption of food sources and the destruction of camping and meeting places all severely disrupted Aboriginal lifestyles and caused a disastrous decline in birth-rate. Many Bunurong / Boon wurrung women were taken to Tasmania by the Europeans because of their ability to 'call in' seals.
By 1863, there were only eleven known Bunurong / Boon wurrung people surviving. Jimmy Dunbar, who died in 1877, is thought to have been the last full blood Bunurong / Boon wurrung.
- Read more about the History of Bunurong / Boon wurrung People in Frankston
Fishing Village 1850's
The land which now forms the Frankston Central Activities District was surveyed in 1854. The township site was chosen because it offered relatively dry, flat ground with access to a good landing place on the beach. It was also hoped that the nearby Kananook Creek would provide a reliable source of fresh water. The first official sale of land in Frankston took place at the end of May 1854, comprising twenty nine town lots, forty one suburban lots and nine country lots of up to 430 acres.
In its early days, Frankston was essentially a small fishing village with anglers living in tents or shacks on or near the foreshore. The only substantial building standing in the town at the time of the 1854 survey is thought to have been the Cannanuke Inn, established by local pastoralist John Davey in the early 1840s.
Frankston village remained isolated from Melbourne and was reached by a rough track - later to become the Nepean Highway - or by sea. A school was established by the Anglican Church in 1855 and the first Frankston post office was opened in 1857. A pier was constructed in the same year.
First Railway Line 1870 - 1900's
Directories of the period list few commercial activities in Frankston beyond fishing and several hotels. The 1871 census recorded only 32 people living in the township, residing in ten houses, two of them being of brick construction, six timber, one slab and one canvas. A 'hotel corner' was to emerge around the intersection of what is now the Nepean Highway and Davey Street. The Cannanuke Inn (later the Bayview Hotel) located the north east corner was the first and was later joined by Mark Young's Pier Hotel on the north west corner and Prince of Wales on the south west corner.
In 1882 the railway line from Melbourne to Mordialloc was extended to Frankston. The railway provided the impetus for further growth in the town centre and brought increasing numbers of day-trippers to the beach from Melbourne. By the late 1880s the town centre could boast a number of impressive commercial premises including the Frankston Coffee Palace, T Richie's Frankston Store, and the Prince of Wales Hotel, erected in 1882. There was also a savings bank in the town from 1881 and two brickworks and a cordial factory operating in Frankston in the 1880s.
Between 1881 and 1891, the township expanded from 173 people in 29 houses to 794 people in 160 houses. Nevertheless, Frankston was too distant from Melbourne to fully benefit from the land boom of the 1880s. The high price of rail fares from Melbourne to Frankston also limited the number of tourists. Despite extra trains
being run on holiday periods, passenger numbers remained relatively low - a survey conducted over six months in 1888 counted only two and a half thousand tickets purchased to Frankston from other stations on a Sunday.
By the turn of the century Frankston's commercial district was concentrated around the railway station. Young Street had emerged as the town's main shopping strip although several traders remained along the course of the Melbourne Road (now the Nepean Highway) to take advantage of passing trade.
Tourist Resort to a Booming Town
Frankston was still essentially a country town at the end of the First World War. More intense development was to follow the electrification of the train line 1922. This reduced the travel time from Melbourne to Frankston from 90 minutes to 62 minutes and allowed Frankston boom as a seaside resort.
In the post-war years the character of Frankston was dramatically transformed as Melbourne's suburban sprawl extended south along the Peninsula. Increasing motorcar use during this period changed shopping habits and encouraged the development of supermarkets, shopping malls and off-street car parks, all but
erasing the nineteenth and early twentieth century character of Frankston's commercial district. The town centre is now dominated by generic modern retail buildings.
Fabulous Frankston
Times were changing in Frankston. The motor car was become much more popular and the electric train had made Frankston part of Melbourne. With this development came commercial success, the holiday town was becoming the residential city. During the 20th century, Frankston was the home to may influential residents. With their influence and wealth, came some beautiful homes and buildings. The Liardet Family had already built Ballam Park, which was regarded as one of Melbourne's prestige homes, Stanley Bruce built Pinehill, Mulburry Hill was upgraded and home to Sir Daryl Lindsay and Joan Lindsay.
In March 1950, George Pentland, the Shire Secretary prepared a report stating that Frankston was the largest town in Victoria as regards rate revenue and population. By October 1960, the Shire of Frankston was formed. In February 1966, the Civic Centre was opened by the Frankston City Mayor, Councillor P.G. Hoskins.
In the 1970's two major shopping complexes were built, Bayside Shopping Centre and Balmoral Centre. Frankston continued to expand as a seaside residential paradise. Beautiful beaches, historical homesteads, accessible to Melbourne City and with the Frankston Arts Centre opening in 1995, Frankston has come the place to be. There is so much to love about Frankston!
Significant Dates in Frankston's History
- 1798 - George Bass entered Western Port and saw the Aboriginal Communities
- 1854 - Frankston Central Activities District was surveyed
- 1855 - The Anglican Church open the first school
- 1857 - First Post Office open and Frankston Pier was constructed
- 1870 - Thomas Richie opened a general store in Bay St
- 1882 - Rail line was extended from Mordialloc to Frankston
- 1906 - First telephone line
- 1914 - First World War broke out
- 1922 - Rail was electrified reducing travel time to 62 minutes
- 1922 - Rt Hon. Viscount Stanley Melbourne Bruce become Australia's Prime Minster
- 1935 - First Australian Scout Jamboree
- 1941 - Frankston Community Hospital opened
- 1960 - Shire of Frankston was formed
- 1966 - The City of Frankston opens the Civic Centre
- 1971 - McClelland Gallery was extablished
- 1976 - George Pentland Botanic Gardens opened
- 1995 - Frankston Arts Centre opened
- 2007 - Frankston Visitors Centre opens at Frankston Waterfront
- 2011 - St Kilda move to Frankston City
The Population of Frankston from Recorded Census
- 1871 - 32
- 1891 - 794
- 1901 - 523
- 1911 - 1173
- 1927 - 1500
- 1933 - 2901
- 1947 - 6449
- 1960 - 26 722
- 1981 - 81 700
- 2006 - 116 200
Frankston City Council recognises and acknowledges the original owners of the land, the Boonerwrung people of the Kulin Nations and respects their elders and traditions. Council is a founding member and supporter of the Inter Council Aboriginal Consultative Committee and has engaged in significant projects over the past decade or more to assist the wider community to understand and engage with Indigenous culture.
Acknowledgement to Michael Jones fantastic book, 'Frankston: Resort to City' which was used to help compile the above information.