Preston Heights Estate

Murray Rd, Cramer, Bruce & James St
 
In the late 1880s with the promise of a railway line in the Preston area, speculators and developers were encouraged to subdivide land for sale. Developers hoping to persuade people to buy away from the existing settlements, made much of the elevation of the land in Preston. At the time the belief was that higher ground was healthier, away from the ‘bad air’ of lower areas as proper drainage had not been established.
 
‘Preston Heights’ was named hoping to attract buyers with its elevated position. 
 
A business organisation was set up specifically to sell land in this area – the Preston Heights Estate Company, selling shares on the promise that ‘there could be no better time for selling than the present, because once the railway service starts, prices will advance by leaps and bounds and only those early in the field will reap the advantages.’
 
In March 1888 a land sale boasted 48 acres with large frontages adjacent to tow railway stations and ‘splendidly situated’ on ‘the highest land of Preston’.
 
The anticipated land boom was not as successful as people hoped and in 1891 the Preston Heights Estate Company went into voluntary liquidation after a meeting of its 300 shareholders. 
 
Carroll, Brian & Rule, Ian (1985). Preston: an Illustrated History. Preston: City of Preston.
Mercury and Weekly Courier (Vic: 1878 - 1903), Friday 16 March 1888, page 2
Public Companies: Prospectus. Herald (Melbourne, Vic: 1861 - 1954), Thursday 29 March 1888, page 4
Preston Heights Estate Company. Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954), Friday 18 September 1891, page 6
Plan of Preston Heights Estate, Preston [cartographic material]. 1888. State Library of Victoria. Available online.