"I thought what am I going to do with myself with four lively young children," she recalls.

"Will I learn to play guitar? And then I thought, I'll start a historical society."

Mrs Park, who was born in Ireland and migrated to Australia with her parents in 1951, explains how she'd always been fascinated by Mt Alexander Road, a major goldfields route in the 1850s.

It was just one of the city's many historical dot points that sparked her interest.

Mrs Park placed an ad in the Essendon Gazette calling for interest in starting a Historical Society.

She recalls holding a meeting in her house in Sherbourne Street, Essendon, where almost 30 people turned up.

Her daughter attended Lowther Hall at the time and schoolgirls hauled borrowed chairs up the streets for people to sit on at the meeting.

Mrs Park says there was a positive response and that was the night, in 1971, that the Essendon Historical Society was born.

"What we wanted to do more than anything was to preserve the Old Court House," she says, referring to the 1870s building in Kellaway Avenue, Moonee Ponds.

At the time, the police force had earmarked the site as a future car park, but the group wrote to the state government objecting to the plan and kept the building alive.

It's now where its meetings are held.

Asked why she's stayed involved for so long, Mrs Park says stories from the past have remained her passion.

There's also been a social aspect.

"I've made lovely friends along the way with the same interest to preserve history," she adds.

"It's not just about Essendon, it's about the district ... Kensington, Flemington, and interesting people who made things happen."

The Essendon Historical Society is open Sundays, 2-5pm. Details: 9370 4607.