A farm of 14 acres was set up on land between Lower Dandenong Road and Governor Road by a women’s co-operative. There the plan was for educated women to teach unemployed women the skills they needed to get work in the rural sector. Two of the leaders were Cecilia Annie Johns and Ina Higgins. All this activity during World War One.
Under the Small Improvement Holdings Act the government in 1906 purchased 453 acres between Lower Dandenong and Governor roads. The land was sub divided into 38 allotments as part of the government’s plan to settle more people on the land. By 1918 it was claimed the scheme was a failure. Gradually the occupiers sold their property and today the and is used by industrial enterprises.
The olive tree in the front of St Patrick’s Church appeared to be dying during the long droughts of the early 2000s Its survival seemed doubtful in 2012 when the drought broke. But it is still there today looking a little worn being well over a hundred years old.
