St Georges Terrace, Perth

St Georges Terrace is the main street in the city of Perth, Western Australia. It runs parallel to the Swan River and forms the major arterial road through the central business district. Due to its coincidence in its west-east direction with prevailing westerlies in Perth weather, it can develop into a successful wind tunnel.

Its western end is marked by the Barracks Arch, where as the eastern end joins Adelaide Terrace at intersection with Victoria Avenue.

St Georges Terrace was named for St George's Cathedral. Originally, houses occupied by clergy of the cathedral and lay clerks of the cathedral choir constituted a substantial portion of the Terrace. Some of these houses such as The Deanery remain, however the majority of these were demolished in the 1960s.

The main streetscape between Barrack Street and William Street in the 1930's and 1940's constituted considerable uniformity of design and building height, by the late 1970's removal of significant older buildings for taller more modern buildings changed this irrevocably.

Set into the footpath along the street are 150 bronze tablets commemorating notable figures in Western Australia's history. These were installed in 1979, as part of the WAY 1979 celebrations, marking the state's 150th, or sesquicentennial year of European settlement.

References

* Austen, Tom (1988) "The Streets of Old Perth" St George Books. ISBN 0-86778-038-X
* Edmonds, Jack (editor) (1979) "Swan River colony : life in Western Australia since the early colonial settlement, illustrated by pictures from an exhibition mounted by West Australian Newspapers Ltd. as a contribution to celebrations for the state's 150th year" Perth: West Australian Newspapers.ISBN 0909699208
* Stannage, C. T (1979) "The people of Perth : a social history of Western Australia's capital city" Perth: Carroll's for Perth City Council. ISBN 0-909994-86-2