Thursday 17 July 2008

Endeavour Hills


Endeavour Hills, early 1970s.

Endeavour Hills was officially gazetted as a suburb on July 14, 1971. According to the Endeavour Gazette : the official newsletter of Endeavour Hills, the project was first conceived in 1970 when Lewis Land Corporation purchased the 1,032 acre site (about 420 hectares). The developers wanted to create a modern suburb that would make use of as many advanced town planning ideas as possible. Endeavor Hills was designed with large areas of parks and sports grounds. Schools, Churches and shops were integrated into the design plan and all the power lines were underground. The first land sales, from the Lewis Land Corporation, took place on November 24, 1973.

The first Endeavour Gazette, where much of the information for this article came from.

As the suburb was being developed at the same time as the 200th anniversary of the arrival of Captain Cook in the Endeavour, it was considered fitting to name the suburb after the Endeavour. There are over 80 streets in Endeavour Hills named after crew on the Endeavour. Daniel Solander was a Naturalist, Zachary Hicks Crescent was named after the second Lieutenant, Howson Close was named for William Howson, the Captain's servant, who joined the ship at age 16. Other streets in the suburb have been named after historical figures such as David Collins, Deputy Judge Advocate, who arrived with the First Fleet and later established the ill fated settlement at Sorrento and John Fawkner and Thomas Mitchell. Other early suggestions for names for the new suburb were Pine Hill and Piney Ridge, due to the number of pine trees in the area, as you can see in the photograph at the top of this post.

An early aerial view of Endeavour Hills. Click on the image to enlarge it.

The first stage of the development consisted of 312 sites. These sites were located on James Cook Drive ; Isaac Smith Drive and the six Closes running off Isaac Smith Drive - Nicholson, Rearden, Terrell, Howson, Manley and Slatterly ; Joseph Banks Crescent and the eight Courts off Joseph Banks Crescent - Hughes, Parker, Dawson, Jordan, Ramsay, Haite, Hardman and Sutherland. Early residents could choose from three different building companies and prices started at $14,500 for a 13.8 square house to $18,200 for a 17.25 square house. A block of land cost about $12,500.

Lewis Land Corporation Sales Office, early 1970s. 
The Sales Centre was on the corner of Heatherton Road and Joseph Banks Crescent.

An early sales brochure.

Endeavour Hills was promoted as a prestige suburb with good capital return, being close to Dandenong, near the Freeway and near the Churchill National Park. New residents received a voucher for a free supply of native plants and shrubs for their garden.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Heather, I've been waiting for a post about the Hills!!
Very interesting (as this is where i grew up). Mum and Dad always told me bits and pieces about it's history, but there's more here that i didn't know.

Catch ya.
Nick

Mon said...

What a wealth of information in such a short snippet! Thanks Heather for that, I will be accessing that for any young ones wanting to know about where they live. Think any of the original families if they are still here are "laughing all the way to the bank"? Lets see..... original land value $12,000 - value in 2008 $300,000 ish

krishna badireddi said...

Wow, really amazing to see all the information. very glad to share such a historic place.

Anonymous said...

The property at the centre of Endeavour Hills was a racehorse stud called "The Pines", standing a beautiful old black stallion called Landau. The owner was a well known sailor who often competed in the Sydney-Hobart race.