Historical information

Rare postcard showing view looking down Bridge Street with the Eltham Obelisk in situ in its original location. The Obelisk War Memorial was unveiled 3 August 1919. Subsequent to the unveiling provision was made of a stone retaining wall topped with a chain link and granite stone boundary. Along with the use of the name Obelisk Corner, the Bridge Street bridge was also known as Obelisk Bridge. The Obelisk was relocated to the fornt garden of the Eltham RSL sub-branch in the mid 1950s as a result of road widening and corner improvements. The Bridge Street Bridge was replaced with a new concrete bridge in 1956-1957.

This is a view looking west down Bridge Street across Main Road. The date was around 1925 and Bridge Street was known as the Greeenborough Road and Main Road was Maria Street. There are substantial cuttings on all four corners. The most obvious feature is the Eltham Obelisk which was unveiled 3 August 1919 by Sir William Irvine, Lieutenant-Governor of Victoria on 3 August 1919, honouring those Eltham residents who fell in the First World War. His wife, Agnes, was instrumental in the establishment of the Avenue of Honour. The Irvines were also Eltham residents, their property was Killeavey on the Yarra River near Laughing Waters.

In 1947 the Eltham War Memorial Trust intended for the Obelisk to be relocated from Bridge Street and Main Road to the Garden of Remembrance which was planned as part of the Baby Health Centre which was to be the first of three buildings of the Eltham War Memorial to be built in 1951. For various reasons that did not happen.

In July 1956, the original wooden Bridge Street Bridge was replaced with a new concreete bridge, which is the structure we know today. At the same time, Eltham Council upgraded and widenened Bridge Street and realigned the intersection at Main Road. A substantial amount of the cutting on the north west corner had to go along with the Eltham Obelisk.

The Obelisk was temporarily relocated to the front garden of the Eltham RSL sub-branch which was situated mid-way between Pitt Street and John Street. That temporary relocation was one of convenience for all and it remained there for several decades.

In 2010 following the financial collapse and sale of the Eltham RSL Sub-Branch property and amalgamation with the Montmorency Eltham RSL sub-branch, the location of the obelisk was again in immediate jepoardy and in conjunction with Nillumbik Shire Council, the obelisk was relocated in front of the Eltham War Memorial buildings in preparation for the Dawn Service on Anzac Day 2012.


- Research by Peter Pidgeon, EDHS, June 2026

Physical description

Digital file only
Postcards scanned from the collection of Michael Aitken on loan to EDHS, 2 Sep. 2022