VICPort & river
Mordialloc
A tidal creek mouth that fed Melbourne fish before it fed it commuters.
1868Bridge Hotel built at the creek crossing
WHAT STARTED IT
Mordialloc Creek meets the bay here as a wide tidal inlet, giving fishing boats shelter on a coast with few harbours. It was a supply point for fish bound for Melbourne, and the coastal track to Frankston crossed the creek at the same spot.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
A hotel and school opened beside the creek in 1868, and the railway from Caulfield arrived in December 1881, turning the fishing village into a picnic and holiday place. The Epsom racecourse and boat builders followed, and in 1920 Mordialloc became the centre of a new borough with Mentone.
TURNING POINTS
1868The Bridge Hotel is built beside Mordialloc Creek on the coastal track to Frankston, and a school opens.
1881The railway from Caulfield is formally opened to Mordialloc on 19 December.
1889Epsom Racecourse opens on flood-prone land east of the township.
1920The Mentone and Mordialloc borough is created; it becomes the City of Mordialloc in 1926.
1994Mordialloc is merged into the new City of Kingston.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
A bayside suburb in the City of Kingston, with a shopping strip between the beach and the station. Boat yards, clubs and moored craft still line the creek that made the place.