Craigie history: the Whitfords Estate, Craigie Lake and the Spiers farm

Craigie is one of four suburbs made from the old Whitfords Estate. Landgate says its name, chosen in 1970, honours an early Wanneroo councillor, while the City of Joondalup’s heritage survey suggests other sources.

How Craigie got its name

Landgate says the name was chosen in 1970 to honour an early councillor of the City of Wanneroo who did a great deal of work on the city’s development.

The City of Joondalup’s Local Heritage Survey gives different possibilities: Craigie Lake, the name European settlers used for Lake Joondalup, which the developers Taylor Woodrow may have borrowed, or Craigie Farm, set up by the Spiers family on the south-eastern shore of Lake Joondalup in the early 1900s.

Before the suburb

The heritage survey describes the City as Mooro Country, part of Whadjuk Noongar Boodjar. The Mooro people lived north of the Swan River and used the lakes, coast and bush for food, and Yellagonga was a prominent Elder at the time of European settlement.

For most of the century after settlement the country inland from the coast was farmed. The survey records about thirty market gardens in the district by 1903. Along the coast, rows of shacks went up in the Whitfords and Hillarys areas.

Planners did not expect suburbs here soon. In 1955 the Stephenson-Hepburn report saw the land around Lake Joondalup as best kept for rural use and market gardens. It also recommended a railway from Daglish to Whitfords, which was never built.

How it grew

In 1969 the State Government rezoned a large area of coastal land for development, and four suburbs were created from what had been the Whitfords Estate. Craigie is one of them. The heritage survey lists Craigie among the new suburbs established from the late 1960s, with Duncraig, Edgewater, Iluka, Kallaroo and Ocean Reef.

Places that tell the story

No place in Craigie is on the City’s heritage survey, but Craigie Bushland is named in the survey as one of the City’s important natural areas. Lake Joondalup, which settlers knew as Craigie Lake, lies within Yellagonga Regional Park, named in 1990 for the Mooro leader Yellagonga.

Craigie today

The 2021 Census counted 6,456 people in Craigie. It is a suburb of mostly separate houses, with buses linking it to Whitfords and Joondalup stations.

More about Craigie

For what Craigie is like to live in now, read our Craigie suburb profile. If you own a property in Craigie and are thinking about selling, start with buyers for your property.

Sources

• Landgate: Perth and surrounds suburb names (archived 2022)
• City of Joondalup Local Heritage Survey (endorsed 28 May 2024)
• Parks and Wildlife Service: Yellagonga Regional Park
• ABS 2021 Census QuickStats: Craigie (WA)

Top image: Craigie Plaza on Eddystone Avenue, Craigie, 2014. Photo: Orderinchaos, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Dates and names are drawn from the sources above. Where sources differ, we have said so or given an approximate date.

By Key Performance Real Estate, 338 Beaufort Street, Perth