West Perth history: Parliament, the Old Observatory and Kings Park

West Perth sits on high ground between the city and Kings Park, and its history is a story of houses that became offices and a civic precinct that grew around Parliament.

Kaarta Koomba

Kings Park, on West Perth’s edge, is known in Noongar as Kaarta Koomba. The National Trust describes its head office as the Old Observatory at Kaarta Koomba on Whadjuk Nyoongar Country.

How it grew

The City of Perth records that West Perth developed as a suburban residential area in the late 1890s. It was close to the city and Kings Park, on high ground with good drainage and piped water. Mansions went up on the prominent sites, with workers’ cottages in the back streets.

Over the 20th century, as the city grew, many of those houses became professional offices.

Places that tell the story

Parliament House, designed by John Grainger, opened in 1904. Its front additions opened in 1964.

The Old Observatory’s foundation stone was laid in 1896. The residence was designed by George Temple Poole. It is now the National Trust’s head office.

The former Hale School building was built between 1910 and 1922. The school moved to Wembley Downs in 1961, and the building now houses the Constitutional Centre.

West Perth today

West Perth today mixes offices, period houses and apartments, a few minutes from the city and from Kings Park.

More about West Perth

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

Sources

• City of Perth: Local Heritage Survey, 66 Ord Street
• inHerit: Parliament House
• National Trust WA: Old Observatory
• inHerit: Hale School (former)

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