Historical information

The Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works (MMBW) was established by an act of the Victorian Parliament in 1890 to prepare for and to implement a sewerage and water reticulation system across what was then inner Melbourne, its surrounding and middle distance suburbs, including Kew. The MMBW was disbanded in 1991.

Significance

The map collection of the Kew Historical Society has at its core the historic maps assembled and originally stored in the City Engineer's Department of the City of Kew. These include maps in a number of scales. The vast majority of maps were produced by the MMBW in the first two decades of the twentieth century, and are solid working maps, backed by linen for durability. These maps are historically significant to Kew, the City of Boroondara and to the history of the development of state utilities in Victoria. A number of the Kew maps have additional details added by former municipal officers, including the levels reached by various floods. As these were working documents, information was added to them long after the period of their initial production and distribution.

Physical description

Early map of part of the Borough of Kew, created in the first decade of the twentieth century, at a scale 160 ft to 1 inch. The map covers what was then the south eastern part of Kew, bordered on its north by Adeney Avenue, in the west by Sackville Street, in the south by Barkers Road, and in the east by Burke Road. The map shows the extent of urban development by that time, prominent institutions and the outlines of built structures in the municipality. Contour lines were added in ink to the map at a later stage.

Inscriptions & markings

MELBOURNE AND METROPOLITAN BOARD OF WORKS / PLAN NO. 66 / KEW