THE TRARALGON & DISTRICT HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC

MONTHLY MEETING REPORT - JUNE 2004

The Real Estate Business - Speaker - Bill McMahon

Bill said he felt rather humbled speaking to the Society as he was sure there were many at the meeting who had lived in Traralgon longer and would know more about the history than he; however, he said, it was certainly great to be there with us. Bill's a self-proclaimed proud Traralgonite and very proud to be a part of what he thinks is a great town, which is why he is a member of the "Save Traralgon' group - it's a subject very dear to his heart.

Bill began his talk with an overview of his and his family's history in Traralgon. His father came to Traralgon in 1938, the same year he was married. He bought out a man called Farrin-Webb who was a livestock, real estate and general agent. Bill remembers all the old bottles of DDT, fly spray and other odds and sods that they'd sell at the office, which is now the Telstra shop, next to what was Castles. It was a terribly dingy old building, as buildings were in those days, and Bill remembers as a young child, when his father occupied the southern end of the building, being too frightened to go down the back.

Further on the south side was Harry Cooper and his photography shop. There was also a grocery and a gaming room - Bill remembers having to hurry past when he was with his mother, as he wasn't supposed to look down the long passageway, it being a place where "bad" people' gathered.

After buying-out 1958. It was about 1 955 that the land west of the Journal office was the last building in Seymour Street on the south side. This was the area where Richard Jeffery built his big drapery shop around 1956 - a huge development for Traralgon. The land between the drapery and Bert Thompson's Journal office was still vacant and it was subsequently subdivided and the area that is now the arcade was bought by Standings, where they ran the Asia Bank, which then became Standing's Livestock and Real Estate. Bill's Dad bought a block next to Jeffery's Drapery when it was auctioned, where he built and moved his business.

Bill's father carried-on business in this shop until around Journal office lane was subdivided. The old Ria Bell, who Bill described as a wonderful woman, worked with Bill's father from 1939 until the business wound-up in 1969. Bill's father experienced many years of ill health and Ria used to virtually run the business for him. During all those years they would always address each other as (Mr McMahon' and amiss Bell'. Bill and his brother Max carried on their father's business from 1974 at 20 Church Street (their father had always kept his licence current and had continued to do a little bit of real estate and stock work on the side). It was a block their father had bought in the mid 1960s and they stayed there until 1978 when they bought out Rex Jacobi next to Post Office lane. They carried-on business there for twenty years, shifting to their current building in 1998.

During his years in Traralgon Bill has seen a lot of changes. The town has grown in a magnificent and orderly manner, and we have a lot to be thankful for in that our forefathers designed the town in such a wonderful way. Interestingly, a gentleman recently brought Bill the original plan for subdivision in Traralgon - it was a small village at the time and the original intention was to have Traralgon in the High Street area, as it was perceived in those days to be much drier up there.

In fact the plan he has quotes the south side of Hotham Street being virtually useless due to its dampness. The reason it changed was that they found that if the steam trains stopped at the bottom of the hill near McNairns. they couldn't make it up the hill. They decided to bring the town back down this way and put the railway station where it is today, which is between the two hills, so the engines could get up either side.

In respect to business it's been an amazing era considering the growth that's taken place.

Bill recalls selling a mill house that was in pretty good nick in Washington Street in 1976 for $29,000, and saying they will never ever get any dearer - just today he was talking about selling a mill house on the western side of town for $120-130,000. Blocks of land are now selling for up to $ l 50,000 each. Bill had the pleasure of working with the Sunderland Circuit subdivision - it was particularly dear to his heart as the land had been owned by the late Bert Smith. Bert was a very good friend of Bill's father and had flown Sunderland flying boats during WWII (he sank a U-boat in the Bay of Bengal and was awarded a DFC). Bert owned about six acres, now known as Sunderland Circuit, where Bill remembers chasing poddy calves during the 1950s. The auctioning of the land was held on a Saturday morning in December at the Little Theatre - there were around thirty blocks which were sold in an hour and a half for a record price in Traralgon.

Bill finished his talk by answering questions from the floor. Lively discussion ensued regarding the industrialization of the area east of Traralgon; the effect that the proposed bypass might have on business in Traralgon; the development of the estates across from the golf course, including the provision for a school, church, and recreation area, the trend of people moving from Morwell to Traralgon; the development of the Shakespeare Street area since the closing of the brick and cement works; Campbell's Estate and the history of severe flooding of the Traralgon Creek; the future of the old Central Gippsland Hospital site and much more.