The Pietsch property, co-owned by German-born brothers William Otto Pietsch and Gustav (Paul) Pietsch, comprised approximately 4.2 acres of land located in Vermont at the corner of Burwood Highway and Morack Road (previously known as Railway Road) extending towards the Dandenong Creek, on the site now occupied by Fort Knox Self Storage and the Vermont Medical Centre.
When the brothers purchased the property in the early 1940s, two buildings existed on the site. The building closest to the corner of Morack Road, which featured a petrol bowser (pump) at the front, was a large white garage that functioned as a factory, on which ‘Doncaster Fruit Juices and Syrup’ signage was displayed. The second building to the left, was a house with a veranda that the brothers transformed into a milk bar in the mid 1940s. Products sold at the milk bar included milk shakes, ice blocks, ice cream and fruit juice. Milk and cream were produced with the aid of a hand-operated milk churn and two cows were also kept on the property. In the late 1940s, the brothers constructed two homes on the property to the north of the existing buildings.
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Gustav (Paul) and Otto (William) Pietsch. Source: Whitehorse Historical Society. |
Large white garage located on the Pietsch property. Source: Whitehorse Historical Society. |
View looking from the front of the Pietsch’s/Davis’ house in Warburton c. 1960s. Photograph courtesy of Gwyneth Davis, daughter of Howard Davis. |
'Köln', the ship on which Gustav (Paul) Pietsch sailed to Australia. Source: Michael Pietsch. |
William, Paul and Walter Pietsch. Source: Whitehorse Historical Society. |
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