I came across the North Perth Walk on a website and thought it looked interesting. This is a part of Perth I am not familiar with so we decided to explore. The North Perth Walk takes you on a self-guided historical walking tour of the North Perth Town Centre. The 16 sites showcase early life in the suburb by identifying places that once stood here along with existing historic buildings from the early 20th century to the 1950s. The walk takes in sections of Angove, Albert, View and Fitzgerald Streets. The walk is not long and took about an hour covering around 2km.
We download the map from North Perth Local but the website appears to have been closed. The webpage published lots of information on each of the 16 historic sites.
There is plenty of parking in North Perth although fees and restrictions apply closest to the town centre. We parked on a side street off Leake Street for free. It was only a 500m walk to the Town Hall and we enjoyed looking at the variety of old and new houses on the way.
Starting our walk from the larger and lesser Town Hall buildings (Number 5 on the map) we progressed along View Street past the old Post Office, Fire Station and St Hilda's Church. View Street is aptly named as North Perth sits on higher ground and you get long distance views taking in the northern suburbs in one direction and across to the Darling Scarp in the other direction.
At the intersection of View Street and Fitzgerald Street we discovered the newly opened North Perth Common public space with inviting spaces to sit and reflect. The entire wall of Paragon Property is covered in blue and white murals by Daek William.
We followed the History Trail map up along Fitzgerald Street but got caught up with the urban art works. It was only as we drove along Fitzgerald Street on leaving that we realised we completely missed the two robot statues opposite the View Street intersection so keep an eye out for them!
Along Fitzgerald Street you will walk past the iconic Rosemount Hotel but keep an eye out for the old Bank of NSW and Rosemount Theatre buildings on the other side of the street.
(Here we got sidetracked by the Urban Art in the Rosemount Hotel car park!)
Shrink on the side of the Rosemount Hotel Bottleshop.
This little snowman drew us into yet another alleyway off Angove Street to discover even more amazing urban art.
Turn up Angove Street keeping an eye out for Woodthorpe's Butchers and The Laundry.
We completely missed seeing the Corner Store, Woodville Reserve and the Hardware Store as we were seeking out urban art and checking out the coffee shops that line Angove Street. If you time your walk right call in for a cuppa at one of these quaint cafes.
Fabulous vintage style mural in North Perth, located on the corner of Angove & Woodville St. Painted by local artist George Domahidy in 2013 this artwork was commissioned by the City of Vincent as part of the Angove Street Festival.
This mural by Perth artist George Domahidy is located on the corner of Angove St & Daphne St. It pays tribute to the trams that used to run down the street.
We wandered further along Angove Street past the Macedonian Orthodox Church (old and new) and down to the old Police Station which is now the North Perth School of Early Learning (complete with fully grown tree on the upper level balcony!)
Backtracking to Albert Street to the Tram Terminus, Percy Estate and North Perth Primary School we followed Olive Street back to View Street coming out at the park next to the Town Hall and completing the loop.
I wouldn't go out of my way to do this walk again for the history but have since discovered how much urban art we missed so might have to go back to find the missing pieces including the fabulous Afghan Camaleer and the Leafy Seadragon at the lower end of Fitzgerald Street. Make sure you check the Urban Art Map so you can plan any detours to see great art. I wish we had - especially as we wandered down Fitzgerald Street to Hyde Park on Vincent Street (5-10 minute walk) and we could have seen them.
Oh and while you are at it research all the great coffee shops in this area so you can call in for a cuppa.
In the spirit of reconciliation Out and About- Family Nature Connection acknowledges the traditional owners of the Wadjak boodjar (Perth land) and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.
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For links to Urban and Public Art blogs go to https://www.outandaboutfnc.com/post/art-and-about-in-perth