Originally the town was to be named Mount Corhanwarrabul, but due to the problems that were foreseen with the spelling and pronunciation of this name, the Surveyor-General's office opted to name it Mount Dandenong. However, today there is still a Mount Corhanwarrabul, which is on the site of Burkes Lookout. The town of Mount Dandenong was settled in 1893, along with a neighbouring town,
Olinda. It was around this time that the Government established farms that would be used to harvest timber. By around 1900 the town had its own general store and primary school. The Post Office, opened in 1902, was closed and replaced by one at
Kalorama in 1991. In 1922 the first motorcars were seen in operation in Mount Dandenong. In 1938, the
1938 Kyeema Crash occurred eighteen people were killed when the Kyeema, an
Australian National Airways DC-2, VH-UYC crashed. A proposal around 2002 for the building of a large "Melbourne" sign on the mountain, similar to the Hollywood sign, was vigorously opposed and not pursued. ==Climate==