The suburb, like its neighbour Bentleigh, was named after the infamous Victorian politician Thomas Bent. Part of East Bentleigh was inside the original grant of land bought by English farmer and brewer, Henry Dendy, in 1841. He bought 5,120 acres (20.7 km2) which was bounded on the west by Port Phillip Bay, then North Road, East Boundary Road and South Road.[2] East Bentleigh Post Office opened on 9 January 1928 and closed in 1995, although Bentleigh East Delivery Centre remains open. Coatesville Post Office on Mackie Road East Bentleigh opened on 1 April 1955.[3]
East Bentleigh police station closed in the early 1990s and the building remains standing on the corner of East Boundary Road and Omeo Court, near Centre Road (opposite the hotel).