SUBDIVISIONS
The Land Boom of the 1880s was
associated with the subdivision of most of the larger existing properties. Population growth saw the establishment of many
local dairies.
After the 1890-1900 depression years the Land Boom had virtually ended, and many unsold lots were used
as unofficial common ground for cattle grazing.
Prior to 1892, the district of Surrey
Hills included most of present-day suburb of Mont Albert.
1880s
- Surrey Park ( Haughton's Paddock) was used for stabling of bullocks
1882 - the railway from Camberwell to Lilydale
was opened, which generated a frenzy of land sales of large estates in the Surrey Hills area. Surrey Hills station opened
in 1882 and Mont Albert station in 1892.The area of what is now Whitehorse suddenly became a prime target for large-scale
land development.
Subdivisions immediately sprung up around stations including Elgar Park Estate in Surrey Hills
(1882) and the Railway Station Estate in Box Hill (1883).
The opening of the railway, and the subsequent
beginnings of suburban subdivision, saw the first residential streets laid out, starting near Mont Albert and Box Hill railway
stations, and stretching eastward along the railway line, although these were sparse east of Middleborough Road.
Another developer,
the Freehold Investment and Banking Company, purchased a thousand acres in Blackburn for a proposed estate. Streets were laid
out, community facilities were established and as a centrepiece, a watercourse was dammed to create Blackburn Lake.
Developers were
less keen to subdivide land further east, in the Tunstall (now Nunawading) and Mitcham areas, although a few did appear along
the north side of Whitehorse Road.
1882 a
high observation tower was built in Canterbury Rd, near the site of the first Reservoir. This was to influence intended purchasers
of land to view the area and to "äppreciate the glorious panoramas of the hills".
Special return trains ran from Princes
Bridge Statiion (CBD) to Surrey Hills Station, with free tickets (passes), to allow interested persons to attend the land
auctions.
Some of the larger estates auctioned
in the years 1880 to 1920 included Windsor Park (1883), Broughton Park, Surrey Park, Tower Hill (1892), Surrey Hills Station
Reserve, Rangeview (1890), View Park (1915), Blacks (1920), Mont Albert (1885)), Mont Albert Park, Kenmare Heights (1908),
Creswick (1913), Harston (1906), Victoria Hill (1907), Inglesby (1908), Lloyd (1913), Windsor Park (1883), Elgar Park, Surrey
Reserve,
