Joondanna history: from Joondanna Heights to a post-war suburb

Joondanna is one of Perth’s post-war suburbs. Most of it was built in little more than a decade, between the late 1940s and the late 1950s.

How Joondanna got its name

The City of Stirling says the name is believed to come from a farm owned by early settler Mark Banks in what is now Osborne Park. The suburb was first called Joondanna Heights, a name chosen through a competition run by a predecessor of the City of Stirling, and was shortened to Joondanna in 1954.

Before the suburb

The land was first granted to Thomas Walters in about 1840, as part of a very large grant that also took in much of today’s Yokine.

How it grew

Subdivision began in 1939. Development was rapid in the late 1940s and early 1950s, including State Housing Commission houses built for returning servicemen, and by 1958 there was little vacant land left.

Places that tell the story

St Denis Church on Osborne Street was built in 1967 to a design by Ernest Rossen, with interiors by Iris Rossen. It is on the local heritage list.

The water tower in the park on Roberts Street is the suburb’s most visible landmark.

Post-war State Housing Commission houses, such as one on Charles Street built from 1946, still show how the suburb began.

Joondanna today

Joondanna is in the City of Stirling.

More about Joondanna

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

Sources

• City of Stirling: Joondanna
• City of Stirling: Thematic History
• inHerit: St Denis Church
• inHerit: 541 Charles Street

Top image: St Denis Church, Joondanna. Photo: Mitch Ames, 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