Perth
In 1697, a Dutch captain, Willem de Vlamingh, named a river after the black swans he saw on the water. The Swan River eventually became the base around which the city of Perth and its suburbs would grow.Perth began life as a colony established by free pioneers, with 100 men, women and children from Europe arriving in 1829 to settle the land. Aboriginals however, had been in the area for thousands of years; and there is an Aboriginal site in the Upper Swan area thought to be 40,000 years old.
The Proclamation of Western Australia
The proclamation of Western Australia as a colony occurred on the 8th of June 1829, at Garden Island. A short time later, Captain James Stirling sailed up the Swan River to an area that was to become the centre of Perth. The 12th of August 1829 saw the founding of the city of Perth, with the ceremonial cutting of a Sheoak tree on a site close to the present Town Hall.
The hardships of colonial times meant that development of the city was very slow. In 1850, the Government agreed to transport convicts to the colony. Following this agreement, Perth grew steadily on the back of hard convict labour. The Perth Gaol and Fremantle Prison were two of the first building projects completed by the convicts. The Town Hall was the last building in Perth to be built by convict labor.
The Rise of Perth
Named after the Scottish city, Queen Victoria declared Perth a city in 1856. The 3rd of June 1929, saw the port city of Fremantle (pictured), proclaimed as the first port of call for migrants and visitors to Australia. The different mix of cultures arriving in Fremantle was the foundation for the cosmopolitan atmosphere still found here today. Western Australia's oldest remaining building, The Round House, was built here by convicts between 1830 and 1831. Built as a gaol, the building housed eight cells and a gaoler's residence. The building soon became too small to house the growing number of convict arrivals and so the prisoners built their own "new home", the Fremantle Prison. 1859 saw the completion of the prison, which only ceased being a working prison in 1991.
National Trust-listed Guilford
Thirteen kilometers from central Perth is Guildford, the only town in Perth recognized by the National Trust of Australia. Together with Perth and Fremantle, Guildford was one of the first three original Swan River Colony settlements.
Established in 1829, Guildford was an inland port and market town, making use of the Swan and Helena Rivers to transport goods to and from Perth and Fremantle. The Guildford town site is arranged in the manner of a 19th century English market town, complete with a church square, main street and grid subdivision. Many of the town's original buildings and homes still exist and are open to the public.
The original commercial precinct, dates back to 1829. Situated around Meadow and Swan Streets, this district contains many historically significant buildings. Some of the buildings well worth visiting include Padburys Cafe Restaurant built in 1869, the Old Town Gaol, built in 1840, and which today houses the Guildford Tourist Bureau, and St Matthew's Church, which was built in 1873.
The opening in 1881, of the railway line to Fremantle, irrevocably changed the town's development. River transport declined and rail became the ultimate transport utility.
Guildford is the gateway to the Swan Valley, Perth's wine producing region. Olive Farm Winery is one of the area's oldest vineyards. Established in 1829, the limestone wine cellar is still in use. The Swan Valley is also home to Western Australia's oldest church, All Saint's Anglican Church at Henley Brook. The church is in the area where Captain Stirling made camp in 1827. Opened in 1841, it was originally made of mud brick, with a porch and belfry added in 1860.
Gold Fever
The growth of Perth owes a great deal to the discovery of gold in the northwest of the state, and again in 1887 at Southern Cross. Gold fever hit the fields and the population doubled twice in a decade. The biggest gold boom occurred in 1893 when Paddy Hannan, Tom Flannagan and Dan Shea discovered gold 40 kilometres east of Coolgardie. Prospectors from China, Europe and the USA flocked to Western Australia in search of their fortune.
The "Golden Mile" is the name given to the area around Kalgoorlie. It was here that gold-diggers discovered the Golden Eagle in 1931. This nugget of gold still holds the record for being the biggest discovered in Western Australia. The Perth Mint was established in 1899 and refined much of the state’s gold.
The 1960s saw Western Australia’s mineral mining industry boom and in the 1970s natural gas resources in the North West Shelf brought further growth. The city skyline changed significantly during this time, with the building of many of today’s office towers.
The City of Lights
In 1962, the Challenger spaceship passed over Perth, and from that day, Perth became the "city of lights”. In honor of the spaceship's passing, the people of Perth, turned on both the city and building lights, as US astronaut John Glenn orbited the stratosphere. Thirty-five years later, in 1998, Perth lit up again, with Glenn this time passing by on board the Discovery space shuttle.
1987 was a very important year for Perth, with Fremantle hosting Australia's defense of the America's Cup yacht race. The region saw major renovations to many heritage-listed buildings during this period. World publicity put Perth on the global tourist map, and since that period, Perth has enjoyed a prosperous tourist and business profile.
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