“Merridong” Pleasant Hills
The land was bought by Frederick Herman Haberecht in 1894. In 1895 bricks and other building materials were purchased for the house which became the first private residence to be built in Pleasant Hills. The original kitchen was separate from the main building.
“Merridong” was first the home of Fred Haberecht and his wife Jessie. Fred was the blacksmith in Pleasant Hills for many years. His blacksmith shop was opposite where the Pleasant Hills Hall is now. Jessie continued living in the house after the passing of Fred in 1930. Jessie moved to Henty to live with her daughter at the age of 96.
The next residents I could find as living at “Merridong” in 1936 was Mr and Mrs J. Bunyan. And in 1949 the residents were Mr and Mrs S. Klemke. After this time, I am unsure who the residents were. Maybe someone can fill in the gaps.
Source: Under the Fig Tree – book and the historic marker on “Merridong” front fence.
The New Wonder: Wireless Radio
On arriving at school one morning, Mr Penny informed us that all the pupils had received an invitation to visit the home of Mr Haberecht, to see a new wonder that had arrived in town. We had heard of wireless transmissions, but now we were going to actually hear a direct broadcast. ‘3LO’ was a new radio station in Melbourne that were doing test broadcasts and perhaps, if the conditions were right, we would be able to hear it.
After a short walk, all the school children crowded into the Haberecht’s living room. On the tabletop was a cabinet; at first, I thought it was an Edison Phonograph. But on closer inspection I noticed it had no funnel or horn to amplify the sound, instead there were a lot of wires. Two of these led down under the table where they were connected to a car battery and another, the aerial wire, went out the window and spanned two posts that must have been twenty feet high and fifty feet apart.
On the front of the box were several knobs and Roy Haberecht (Fred’s son) was busily twisting them while intensely listening through a pair of headphones. Another pair of phones resided on the table and when he was apparently satisfied that he was tuned in, these were placed on the ears of two children.
Finally, my turn came and I donned the headphones. At first, I heard nothing, then I detected a weak sound that resembled a violin or a woman singing. It was so heavily charged with static, I also began to frown in frustration. As far as I was concerned, I could live without radio broadcasting.
Source: The Pepper Trees on Ryan Street – by Paul Knie – book. Researched by Fiona Beckett.