Yarra Bay Pleasure Grounds

DESCRIPTION

Description

George Howe and business partner William Rose leased the area in 1898 to develop the Yarra Bay Pleasure Grounds. By 1901, Howes Refreshment Rooms, Stables and Boatshed were completed and the site opened to the public.

The Pleasure Grounds contained facilities for a variety of activities: a cricket pitch was established on what had previously been swampland and boat rides and novelty sports were catered for. It became very popular as a venue for work picnics and social club outings.

72 huts were built as accommodation for campers and fishermen. The area's popularity declined with the Depression, becoming a site for a shanty towns, and the huts became the homes of many unemployed.

The remaining buildings were demolished in the 1960s.