Historical information

The intersection of Arthur Street and Main Road Eltham, January 4, 1968. The Eltham Shire Council hall and offices on the right hand side. The Hall was also a cinema and operated as the Plaza Theatre from 1943 to about 1968. A truck with a water tank is on the left of the street, possibly cleaning the street.
Note Cinema sign on hall.

Copied from an original document produced by Ian McDonald (Eltham Shire Council) 1970.

During the period 1969-1971 photos were being collected for a proposed publication on the history of the Shire of Eltham as part of its centenary celebrations in 1971 (managed by the Shire of Eltham Historical Society and Alan Marshall). The publication was Pioneers & Painters (1971), edited by Alan Marshall.

The document titled "Shows area sold to Woolworths" consisted of a panorama of three B&W photo prints creating a panorama of the frontage along Main Road (SEPP_0744) and a single B&W photo print of the Shire of Eltham offices and Hall on the corner of Arthur Street and Main Road (SEPP_0737) along with typed and hand written notes by Ian McDonald.

The panorama (SEPP_0744) was captioned in typewritten text "Old Shire Office and Hall, etc - Frontage of 285 feet along Main Road" and in pencil the date "4-1-68"

The single image of the shire offices (SEPP_0737) was captioned in typewritten text "Main Road and Arthur Street Corner"

In addition, the following handwritten notes in pencil:
" I took these photos from the new fire station - the building in the middle is the old fire station - Moved to Research for the Scouts 1970" and signed "IMcD"

Significance

This photo forms part of a collection of photographs gathered by the Shire of Eltham for their centenary project book,"Pioneers and Painters: 100 years of the Shire of Eltham" by Alan Marshall (1971). The collection of over 500 images is held in partnership between Eltham District Historical Society and Yarra Plenty Regional Library (Eltham Library) and is now formally known as 'The Shire of Eltham Pioneers Photograph Collection.'
It is significant in being the first community sourced collection representing the places and people of the Shire's first one hundred years.

Physical description

Digital image
4 x 5 inch B&W Neg