SYMONS STREET, Yarra Glen
This street was named after George Symons who owned significant parcels of land in the district including land adjoining the un-named road when it was gazetted.
The land owned by Symons and his neighbour John Hicks Petty on the southern side of the street remained largely pastoral until the late twentieth century. The one exception was the homestead of Petty himself which was directly opposite the current junction with Irvine Crescent. Petty was Postmaster from 1861 and in 1893 he erected a new building to house the post office, bank and telephone exchange. These operated until 1950. Opposite the Pettys, in the triangle now formed by Irvine Crescent, Bell and Symons Streets, were the Yarra Glen Sale Yards which operated from 1886 until 1935.
The Yarra Flats Common School was opened on 1 May 1879 on the site of the current Yarra Glen Primary School. The land had been purchased from Mr Thomas Armstrong who at that time owned most of the land on the northern side of Symons Street.
In the latter half of the 1940s and early 1950s Gordon Hubbard operated a saw mill on the western side of the school land. He also had a residence there. The mill was destroyed by fire in the mid 1950s and the saw mill was re-located to the corner of Mill and Ellis Roads. Mr Hubbard built a new brick and tile house on the corner of Symons Street and Yarraview Road opposite the school.
Many houses to the west of the school were built in the early twentieth century, although a lot have now been replaced. The weatherboard houses to the east of the school along to Irvine Crescent were built in the 1950s.
Sources: Evelyn Observer, 2 October 1885; Yarra Glen and District Historical Society Newsletter, no.16, May 2005
