Mumirimina Country
For many thousands of years, across countless generations, the land, waterways and sky of the Southern Beaches district were home to the Mumirimina band of the Oyster Bay nation. In the early 1800s they were dispossessed of their lands, their way of life, and did not survive colonisation.
We pay respect to the deep history of the Palawa people of lutruwita/Tasmania, their tenacious and enduring heritage. We honour those who have gone before.
Take a moment to think of all the footsteps, all the conversations of the families who have walked this land and the enduring connection of those who walk here today, because this always was and always will be Aboriginal land.
Historical plaque at Jetty Rd
Dodges Ferry was named after Ralph Dodge who ran a ferry service from this point to the sandpit on Seven Mile Beach. From there the settlers walked or rode to connect with horse or coach which took them to Bellerive where they caught another ferry across to Hobart Town.
Ferry Farm (1831) & Lagoon Farm (1864-1985)
painting by Eileen Boniwell (1983)
Much of the avenues part of Dodges Ferry was once part of a farm established by Ralph Dodge and his wife Charlotte. On the foreshore at the end of Fourth Avenue, Dodges Ferry, stands the 1831 Ferry Farm and nearby to the north was the former Lagoon Farm, now commemorated by a historic sign on the foreshore at Dodges Ferry Primary School and the Lagoon Park playground and outdoor classroom in the school grounds.
Ferry Hall (c1910)
On northern edge of the school grounds stands the well travelled Ferry Hall – a traditional timber weatherboard community hall that was first at Kellevie, removed to the Lewisham foreshore opposite Lewis Avenue, and then to the current site at Dodges Ferry. The venue for many community gatherings and meetings, in 1987 the hall hosted a mobile kindergarten – the beginnings of Dodges Ferry Primary School – and served as a community hall until the mid 1990s when the Dodges Ferry Recreation Centre gym and general purpose room were built. The hall became part of the school, the stage was removed and other modifications made over the years as Ferry Hall became kindergarten, music room, art room, after school care and more.
Dodges Ferry Primary School (1987+)
The community-led kindergarten class of 1987 paved the way for the official opening of the school in 1988, the year Dodges Ferry was proclaimed a town. A permanent kindergarten was built and former Colebrook School buildings were moved onto site. The classes grew, a major upgrade added a library, classrooms, gazebo and office. New classrooms were added as the school enrolments grew: four upper primary classrooms in 2010, a kindergarten extension, two new kindergarten classrooms, and temporary classrooms catered for the rapid growth to 500+ K-6 students. Playgrounds were enhanced year to year thanks to school community working bees and fundraising. Lagoon Park and a bush playground were established in 2018 and in 2020 the Community Loop track added to link the school and community precinct shared with Okines Community House, Dodges Ferry Football Club and others.
Okines Community House & Garden (2011+)
Neighbouring the school on the former Lagoon Farm, Okines Community House was established by local volunteers in 1998, working from temporary premises in the community until the community garden was established in 2011 and the purpose built premises opened in 2012.
The Princess Royal (1832/2016)
Further north along the shoreline and Lewisham sand flats is an historic sign at the end of Gary Street, commemorating the dramatic arrival of The Princess Royal in August 1832. Carrying the first 200 free female settlers to Van Diemens Land, the ship was at the peril of stormy seas, when guided to safety by Ralph Dodge and others.
