Cityscapes and Streetscapes

Over the last hundred years the face of Western Australia's towns and cities have changed, but none more so than that of the State's biggest city, Perth.  Streetscapes and skylines have radically altered reflecting the huge growth in Western Australia's population and the wealth generated by the local economy. What was once a small, isolated and insular community at the time of Federation has become, in the course of a century, a more confident, cosmopolitan and outward looking society.

These views, chiefly of Western Australia's capital, reflect that society's increased confidence - a self-belief born of mining booms and the migration of diverse peoples.

The following series of photographs capture the feeling of life in Perth and Fremantle in the early 1900s. The State's largest town is notable for its sleepy, empty streets, free of automobiles, with few people evident.  The city's skyline is dominated by church towers and the town hall, visible above solid commercial buildings.

City streets are lined with tram lines - the main form of public transport.  A tangle of power lines mar the streetscape.