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Produced and published by the School of Historical & Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne
Published July 2008
Published July 2008
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A saltwater basin just downstream of the rocky outcrop forming the Yarra Falls and roughly in line with William Street was the furthest point that ships could navigate up the Yarra River. Wharves soon developed in the vicinity, and the turning basin or 'Pool of Melbourne', overlooked by the Customs House (now the Immigration Museum), was progressively widened and deepened so that boats could turn or moor. Overtaken by carparks in the 1950s, the turning basin was reinstated in the 1990s along with the newly created Enterprize Park, named for founder John Pascoe Fawkner's schooner, which had first moored in the vicinity in August 1835. A 1997 sculptural installation by Bruce Armstrong and Geoffrey Bartlett, on a timber wharf adjacent to Queens Bridge, recalls the precinct's maritime history.