Cliff Street, Fremantle

Cliff Street is a street in Fremantle, Western Australia. It is the furthest west cross street on High Street, running parallel to Mouat Street.

Tramlines being worked upon in Cliff street in 1905

Cliff Street Western Australia
General information
Type	Street
Major junctions
North end	Phillimore Street
	High Street
South end	Marine Terrace
Location(s)
Suburb(s)	Fremantle

The proximity to government offices, and the connection between the Swan River and the ocean jetties, made the street a significant thoroughfare in the early stages of Fremantle development

In the 1860s an early union organization, the Western Australian Working Men's Association chose rooms in Cliff Street after their Phillimore Street rooms lease was finished.^[1]

In the late 1880s and early 1900s offices were established for a range of businesses and organisations, such as the West Australian newspaper in 1886,^[2]

By the early 1900s street was an important part of the route of the Fremantle Tramway system, as the tram shed had been situated just west of the junction of Cliff Street with High Street.

Heritage area

It is also at the south western edge of University of Notre Dame campus buildings. It is part of the Fremantle West End Heritage area, which was established in late 2016.^[3][4][5] Heritage buildings found along Cliff Street include:

• Former Bank of New South Wales building on the corner of High Street, constructed in 1899.
• Commissariat Buildings, corner of Marine Terrace, built in 1853.
• Fremantle Customs House on the corner of Phillimore Street, built in 1908.
• Hotel Fremantle on the corner of High Street, built in 1899.
• McDonald Smith Building, built in 1895.
• Union Bank building, on the corner of High Street, built in 1889.
• Wilhelmsen House on the corner of Phillimore Street, built in 1902.

References

1. "Western Australian Working Men's Association". The Inquirer and Commercial News. Vol. XXVII, no. 1, 388. Western Australia. 6 March 1867. p. 4. Retrieved 18 September 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
2. "Fremantle Office". The West Australian. Vol. 2, no. 136. Western Australia. 10 June 1886. p. 3. Retrieved 18 September 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
3. Briana Shepherd (17 November 2016). "WA heritage listing for large chunk of Fremantle's West End". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
4. "West End, Fremantle - Entered in State Register". Heritage Council of Western Australia. 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
5. "Heritage Council Curtilage Map P25225-0 West End Fremantle" (PDF). Heritage Council of Western Australia. Retrieved 2 January 2017.