Defined by Country and the world’s oldest living culture, boom and bust, innovation and mining, Perth / Boorloo’s ever-evolving story is a captivating read that’s easy to follow by letting your gaze wander.
Chapters of striking contrast unfold across the landscape, architecture and skyline, from the gentle bend of the Swan River / Derbarl Yerrigan to the sharper edges of its humble limestone foundations and sleek steel-and-glass towers. It’s a rich narrative that draws you into the past and present moment at every turn.
Creation of a living landscape
Walking with Nyoongar guides who carry the first stories of Perth / Boorloo is the best place to begin your time-jumping journey through the city and deepen your connection to place. Step back 50,000 years and listen to the legend of the sacred Wagyl (creator spirit) who carved the rivers, hills, lakes and wetlands that stretch out before you and shape how the city is experienced today.
Where the city first grew
Step into the shade of grand old Morton Bay Figs and Washington Palms in the Supreme Court Gardens and you’ll find the earliest European marks on the landscape. The simple Georgian-style Old Court House is one of the first administrative buildings Captain Stirling commissioned after establishing the Swan River Settlement here in 1829.
Originally surrounded by tents and modest low-slung cottages, the city slowly grew, one local limestone block and handmade red clay brick at a time, reaching new heights in 1870 with the completion of the Victorian Free Gothic-style Perth Town Hall.
Feel the rush
When early prospectors struck 16kg of gold with a tomahawk over 500 km east of Perth, it sparked a boom that still resonates loud and proud through St.George’s Terrace to Hay, Murray, Wellington, Barrack and William Streets.
Flooded with newfound wealth and a growing population, these once well-worn sandy tracks were graced with the elegant Victorian and grand Federation-era styles you see at Government House, The Perth Mint and the Old Perth Fire Station.
A changing skyline
Enter the 20th century and a new chapter of growth and reinvention by climbing the sweeping staircase for pre-show cocktails in grand Edwardian-Baroque style at His Majesty’s Theatre. Trace stepped outlines and bold geometry into the polished foyers of Art Deco cinemas and hotels or get a taste of Tudor Revival at London Court.
Just a few minutes’ walk east brings you to Council House – marking the second major mining boom in the 1960s that boosted the city’s vertical growth. Among the first concrete-and-steel high rises to reach for the sky and light up the Swan River / Derbarl Yerrigan, this would have been one of the twinkling beacons that shone out of the vast darkness in that historic moment when U.S. astronaut John Glenn orbited the Earth in February 1962 and dubbed it the “City of Lights”.
Next-level elevation and innovation
From the iconic S-bend of Elizabeth Quay Bridge, the sloping lawns of Kings Park and Botanic Garden / Kaarta Koomba or the calm stillness of Matilda Bay Reserve, you’ll see the full ripple effect of the most recent resources boom written across the city skyline.
The glittering glass towers of major mining corporations and global businesses now soar above beautifully maintained gold-rush heritage architecture, lighting up the sparkling river and framing the city’s most scenic waterfront gathering places. It’s a glow that’s forever growing in intensity, as the city continues to revitalise and reinvent itself.
