Station Pier
It was to Station Pier at Beacon Cove on the northern shores of Port Phillip Bay that the majority of migrant ships tied up when visiting Melbourne. In the early days Melbourne's port was little more than a pier jutting out into the bay. The pier around which the suburb of Port Melbourne grew carried the tracks of Australia's first steam railway from 1854, the year in which it and the railway were officially opened on 12th September. Completed just three years after the establishment of the colony of Victoria, the railway, which ran from Flinders Street to Sandridge (now Port Melbourne), was operated by the privately-owned Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company.After all these years, a large section of the railway that gave the pier its name still remains, although these days the tracks are used by trams and no longer extend onto the pier itself or into the city centre at the Melbourne end. The Sandridge Railway Bridge, which carried the line across the Yarra River to Flinders Street Station, still stands, but is no longer in use.
Originally called Railway Pier, Station Pier has played a pivotal role in Victorians' lives, particularly the gold seekers and settlers throughout the 1800s who passed over it. As such, it is one of the most historic jetties in Australia. In 1861, the original pier had to be extended to a length of more than 661 metres as it was ill-equipped to accommodate the increasingly large and more powerful steamships visiting Australia's shores.
During August 1899 the first contingent of troops headed to the Boer War in South Africa from Station Pier. In October 1914, sixteen ships left Port Melbourne carrying troops, horses and supplies as part of Australia's contingency for the Great War effort. Station Pier was also the place of return for the hospital ships. The 1940's saw many troops embark and head to the Middle East, Britain and Singapore for World War II from Station Pier.
Extensively rebuilt and modified over the years, the jetty was the major terminal for overseas passenger liners visiting Melbourne during the 20th century. A second railway pier was built at Port Melbourne to the west of Station Pier in 1914, and named Princes Pier in 1920. It carried the overflow when Station Pier was unable to cope with the influx of migrant ships.
Station Pier had its biggest facelift in the early 1920s when its body was replaced and extended and the legs of ironbark and turpentine upon which it stands today were put in place. The pier's new superstructures allowed passengers to alight at upper deck level from their ships into one of two terminal buildings. The forward thinking design which kept passengers away from the movement of goods and vehicles at ground level was quite advanced for its day. It was through these terminals that most migrants arrived.
Migrant ship SS Australis berths at Station Pier, December 1973
During Australia's two major waves of immigration, between 1851 and 1890 and between 1947 and 1970, there were many days when all of Station Pier's four berths were in use. This activity is intrinsically linked to Melbourne's rich multicultural society with an average of 61,000 overseas passengers arriving on an annual basis between 1949 and 1966. For many post-war migrants Station Pier symbolises where their new life began. A red brick cubicle with the words "uomini" and "antres" spelt out in tile, with a translation - "mens", is evidence of the influx of non English-speaking migrants through the port.
The Inner East berth is now the Melbourne terminus of a daily ferry crossing Bass Strait to Devonport. The two outer berths, with a total length of 713 metres, are used less frequently and service all the cruise liners that visit Melbourne each cruising season.
