City of Subiaco: History
A group of Benedictine monks settled in Subiaco in 1851. They called their monastery New Subiaco after the birthplace of the Benedictine Order – Subiaco, Italy. In 1881, the name Subiaco was adopted for a railway station near the monastery, and later for the cluster of houses and businesses that became the present Subiaco.
The Subiaco Progress Association was established in 1896. They lobbied for the formation of the Subiaco Road District, which was then created on 10 April 1896. The first chairman of the Subiaco Road Board was Charles Hart, who was Secretary of the Subiaco Progress Association. By the end of 1896, the population of the Subiaco Road District was above 2000, allowing the Road Board to apply to become a municipality. The government granted the request, and so the Municipality of Subiaco was gazetted on 26 March 1897.
In 1899, a permanent building for the Municipal council was constructed, on a site next to the primary school. The block this building was on later became known as Civic Square, due to the congregation of civic services such as a post office and fire station. In 1909, the council moved to a newer and larger building, still in Civic Square.
Around 1905, the Municipality was given 98 acres (40 ha) of endowment land to use, located north of the railway line and south of Salvado Road. The council held a competition for the design of a subdivision on the land. Architect George Temple Poole won the competition. The land then became an industrial area. The land was first leased in 1905, and factories were subsequently built on the land, including a timber and construction materials factory, and a foundry and ironworks.
By 1906, 4500 street trees had been planted by the municipality, establishing Subiaco as one of Perth's leafiest suburbs. This was initiated by the inaugural Town Clerk and Engineer Alexander Rankin. Ken Spillman wrote in his book that Rankin has a "near-obsession with beautifying the municipality".
Following World War I, the council and its residents entered into financial hardship. In November 1922, the council began construction on a World War I memorial clock tower. Despite initially being conceived as mostly community funded, the Subiaco council funded the majority of the memorial, after fundraising efforts did poorly. This made the financial situation at the council even worse. It was officially opened on 25 November 1923.
In 1927, the Subiaco post office relocated from Civic Square to a larger building on the corner of Rokeby Road and Park Street. This led to the council establishing a library in the old post office.
A referendum was held in 1935 on whether the Municipality of Subiaco should be amalgamated into the City of Perth, in line with the Greater Perth Movement which had seen similar amalgamations of the Leederville, North Perth and Victoria Park municipalities. The proposal was defeated with 73 percent voting against a merger.
By the late 1940s, the Municipality of Subiaco had reached a high enough population that it was eligible to become a city. Under the Municipal Corporations Act 1906, a municipality can become a city if its population is greater than 20,000, and its annual revenue is greater than £20,000. The municipality's population in 1952 was 20,100. Thus, on 8 February 1952, the City of Subiaco was gazetted. In celebration of becoming a city, a parade was staged along Hay Street and Rokeby Road on 20 September 1952. …