It is named after James Vincent Hughes, former mayor of City of Oakleigh who lobbied heavily for a new station for the area in the mid-1920s.

Hughesdale began, not as a Melbourne suburb, but as a suburban area of Oakleigh along the railway line between it and Murrumbeena.

In the 1880s, due to the presence of the railway the stretch of land attracted some professionals who established substantial homes on large estates.

The original township was laid out around Poath Road with small lanes, some cobbled in bluestone.

Hughesdale inherited the modified grid plan of neighbouring suburbs and the original Victorian era estates were converted to greenfield land eventually making way for affordable working class housing developments.

With the opening of Chadstone Shopping Centre in the 1960s, Hughesdale completed its suburban expansion and became the main rail access point for the centre, however it also began a long steep decline in the local commercial area's trading.

As a result, several mixed use buildings of 2 or more storeys have been developed along Poath Road near the railway station.

The next most common countries of birth were China (excludes SARs and Taiwan) 7.7%, India 6.8%, Greece 6.1%, England 1.8% and New Zealand 1.4%.

Other languages spoken at home included Greek 12.4%, Mandarin 7.9%, Hindi 2.2%, Cantonese 1.8% and Italian 1.7%.

[13] Sacred Heart Girls' College was opened in 1957 by the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions, who came from the convent in Highgate, Perth, Western Australia.

[15] The school was demolished in 1993, with the site now occupied by a service station, McDonald's restaurant, a housing estate and a sports ground.