-
In 1803, Charles Grimes is believed to be the first European to explore the Yarra River.
-
In 1839, John Dight purchased Melbourne block 88, which
included 26 acres of land along the Yarra River for £481. -
In April 1840, John Dights stopped his flour milling business at Ceres, NSW and moved his business to Port Phillip Bay.
-
In 1841, John Dight built one of the first steam powered flour mill, using bricks that were bought from Tasmania
-
Dight used the river to power his mill, and in order to
regulate flow, he constructed a rough stone weir. -
The Dight Family’s mill and land along the Yarra changed hands a
number of times in the mid to late 1800s. -
The Dight Family abandoned flour milling in 1864 and
the property was sold to Edwin Trennery in 1878. -
The mill on the river bank remained unoccupied until 1888, when flour millers Gillespie, Aitken and Scott constructed a new mill.
-
The mill race rebuilt almost identically the same using
bluestone blocks from Dight’s old mill building. This enterprise was
sold in 1891 to the Melbourne Flour Milling Company. -
The mill changed hands for the last time in 1909 before it was
destroyed by fire. The mill race can still be found at Dights Falls today. -
The first documented reconstruction activity occurred in 1918
when part of the timber weir washed away in flood waters. -
On 24 December 1940, another rebuild was prompted and 1.5 tonnes of rock mended the edge of the weir downstream.
-
In 1967, most of the timber decking, walling and rock fill had washed
away and were irreparably damaged during this flood. -
Melbourne Water, recognised that the weir was a fish barrier and constructed a rock fishway to allow fish to move around the weir.
