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Discover Perth’s Least Popular Yet Interesting Landmarks
Perth is an amazing city filled with beautiful and sometimes quirky, attractions. You’ve probably already heard of a couple of them, like Elizabeth Quay, Fremantle Prison, and Kings Park and Botanic Garden.
But what if I told you there are more amazing landmarks in Perth that are waiting to be discovered?
Let’s find out and see some amazing yet underrated landmarks in The City of Lights and discuss why they deserve a spot on your itinerary!
The Last Residential Property in Fremantle Port
Address: 28 Bayly Street, North Fremantle, WA, Australia
First on our list is the weatherboard cottage formerly owned by Carmel Mullally, which is located right in the middle of Western Australia’s largest and busiest port, the Fremantle Port.
A small, quaint home built anywhere between 1897 and 1913, Carmel’s home is one of the oldest structures built in the area and was purchased by Carmel and her husband James in the 1950s.
This home is one of the many houses that used to line up Bayly Street prior to Perth’s rapid growth after World War II. Sadly, the government decided to rezone the area in 1963 to become a new expansion zone of Fremantle Port.
While most of her neighbours quickly moved on, Carmel chose to stay and reject any offers made by the government for her to move someplace else.
All attempts made by the Fremantle Port to relocate her ended in vain. By the early 2000s, the Fremantle City Council decided instead to mark Carmel’s home as heritage-listed and preserve it as one of the city’s local attractions.
Nowadays, the home, which is surrounded by container yards, a freight train line, and a busy freight road, can still be visited at its original address on Bayly Street.
| Did you know? It wasn’t until 2019 that Carmel was finally convinced by her family to sell the property to the Fremantle Port. Sadly, she passed away on February 11, 2022. She’s now considered an icon of the old North Fremantle and the port workers who poured their efforts into turning Fremantle into the bustling port city it’s known today. |
East Perth Power Station
Address: East Perth, Western Australia
East Perth Power Station is a disused power plant located in East Perth, beside the Swan River. Built by the state government between 1913 and 1916, it was once responsible for powering up the entire Perth metropolitan area.
Throughout the decades, this power plant was expanded to meet Perth’s growing demand for electricity. It operated until 1981 when more advanced and cheaper power plants made the East Perth Power Station redundant.
After its closure, the Western Australian government recognised its massive contribution to Perth’s progress through a preservation project launched in 1993.
This protected the power plant’s significant artefacts like machinery and equipment showing the five stages of power generation technology developed in the 20th century.
It finally became a heritage-listed site in January 2016.
Visitors are free to roam around outside the power plant and take photos of it. However, entering the plant itself is discouraged due to potential health and safety risks.
| Did you know? Throughout the years, the Western Australian government has launched several unsuccessful redevelopment projects to repurpose the East Perth Power Station, including one that would have transformed the plant into a state museum. The latest redevelopment project proposed was cancelled in March 2023. As of the time of writing, no new plans have been put forward yet. |
The Academy of Taxidermy
Website: https://academyoftaxidermy.com/
Address: 131 James St, Guildford WA 6055, Australia
Contact details: +61 8 9377 3884
Operating hours: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM (TUES-SUN)
Price:
- Standard (12 and above) – $6
- Child (11 and under) – $3
The next one on our list is something I’m sure fans of natural history will love. The Academy of Taxidermy is a private museum filled with over 2,000 taxidermies of different animals, making it one of the largest taxidermy collections in Australia.
It was started by taxidermist Michael Buzza in 2005, who wanted to use his skills to preserve and share nature’s wonders with his fellow Perthites.
Here, you’ll have the chance to see and discover various animals, including endangered ones like the numbat and the woylie, preserved to look almost as if they’re still alive and breathing.
Aside from land animals, the museum also hosts taxidermied samples of common marine life found along Perth’s waters. Furthermore, they even have sculptures of various dinosaurs that your kids will definitely love!
To help visitors learn more during their visit, Michael himself regularly holds group tours where he discusses each of his taxidermied animals in detail.
| Pro tip: You can actually rent the entire museum for special events like weddings, birthday parties, and photo shoots. Drop a message here to learn more. |
Lincoln Street Ventilation Stack
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lincolnstreetventilationstack
Address: 57A Lincoln St, Perth WA 6000, Australia
Operating hours: 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM (TUES and FRI)
A quirky landmark you can visit is the Lincoln Street Ventilation Stack, which is a tower with distinguishable Art Deco features located in Highgate just north of the Perth CBD.
Built by the Metropolitan Water Supply, Sewerage, and Drainage Department in 1935, it once served as a vent for the city’s sewer network where acidic gases that were building up inside the sewers could spew out safely.
Unfortunately, it was extremely bad at its job!
It turns out the Lincoln Street Ventilation Stack wasn’t efficient at venting the sewer gas, and worse, the particles carried by the gas it vented sometimes dispersed to nearby houses under certain weather conditions.
Due to its poor performance, it was sealed in 1941 and referred to as “Dumas’ Folly,” named after Russell Dumas, then chief engineer of the Public Works Department.
Shortly after, the Lincoln Street Ventilation Stack was turned into a radio tower for Perth’s Police Wireless Service during World War II.
Its status as a radio tower was kept a secret from the public until 1956 to avoid being targeted by Japanese air raids.
It maintained its role until its radio antennas were decommissioned in 1975. You can still see the antennas today.
Several decades after its decommissioning, the local government of Perth finally recognised it as a heritage-listed site in 2007.
| Did you know? The Lincoln Street Ventilation Stack is actually the second-tallest sewer vent in Australia! With its height of 38 metres, it was narrowly beaten by a sewer vent in Sydney, which has a height of 40 metres. |
Leighton Battery
IMAGE IDEA
- A social media post that features the Leighton Battery
- A stock photo of a coastal battery
Address: Buckland Hill Reserve, Boundary Rd, Mosman Park WA 6012, Australia
Contact details: +61 459 783 871
Operating hours: 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM (SUN)
Price:
- Adult (16 and above) – $10
- Child (6-16) – $4
Our next landmark will take us back to the height of World War II. Built in 1941 in response to the increasing hostilities in Asia, the Leighton Battery was a coastal defence installation near the mouth of the Swan River.
Its sole purpose was to defend Fremantle Harbour from Japanese invasion.
After the fall of Singapore, the Leighton Battery was further upgraded as Fremantle became the primary base for Allied submarines operating in the Indian Ocean and the Strait of Moluccas.
Military history buffs will certainly have a field day during their visit here, as Leighton Battery has some of the most powerful guns available in the Allied arsenal during that time.
Some noteworthy military equipment you’ll be able to check out during your visit are the two 6-inch Mk VII naval guns and several 3.7-inch anti-aircraft guns.
Furthermore, you’ll also have the chance to explore the old WWII tunnels that run below this installation and several other fortresses in the area.
| Did you know? Because most able-bodied men were already conscripted to fight overseas during the war, most of the duties performed within the Leighton Battery, like anti-aircraft roles, were carried out by the brave servicewomen of the Australian Women’s Army Service! |
Heirisson Island
Address: East Perth WA 6004, Australia
Contact details: +61 8 9461 3333
Our next destination is Heirisson Island, a quaint little island located right in the middle of the majestic Swan River.
Historically, Heirisson Island served as an important crossing point for the Noongar people who originally inhabited the area. They referred to the island as Matagarup, which means “leg deep” in the Noongar language.
Nowadays, the island is still considered a major crossing point between the northern and southern parts of Perth because it supports the Causeway Bridge, one of Perth’s busiest bridges.
Aside from its iconic bridge, another thing that Heirisson Island has that makes a visit there worth it is its beautiful park, where a small kangaroo population currently resides.
They are pretty chill around people, so you’re free to get up close and take some photos with them. Besides kangaroo watching, Heirisson Island is also a great place to do some picnicking and birdwatching.
| Pro tip: Are you a fan of fishing? Then make sure to carry your fishing rod on your visit to Heirisson Island because it’s one of the best places to catch some fish from the Swan River, like yellow perch and northern pike. You don’t need to have a fishing licence as long as you’re fishing along the island’s banks! |
Mettams Pool
Address: West Coast Drive, North Beach 6020
Contact details: +61 8 9461 3333
We already know that Perth is home to many amazing beaches, like Cottesloe Beach and Scarborough Beach. However, there are also some that have yet to catch the attention of many people, like Mettams Pool, which is north of Trigg Beach.
A probable reason why this beach remains unknown to most visitors to Perth is its pool-like conditions. Unlike the exciting waves you’ll see at Scarborough Beach, the waves at Mettams Pool tend to be calm on most days of the year.
On the flip side, having pool-like conditions makes Mettams Pool a great place that both kids and the elderly can enjoy. You won’t have to worry much about closely supervising your kids here because most parts of the beach are shallow and calm.
Aside from a relaxing beach session, Mettams Pool is also great for snorkelling because it has a 1.5-metre-deep reef where you can observe a huge variety of marine life.
Furthermore, there are also plenty of restaurants and cafes near Mettams Pool, so you’ll have no difficulties finding something to eat during your visit here.
| Did you know? Mettams Pool was originally unsafe for beach activities due to the limestone reef in the area, which turned it into a sharp, rocky terrain that made it hard for people to swim or even walk on the sand. However, that all changed in the 1930s when World War I veteran Frank Mettam successfully removed most of the limestone reef in the area through the use of a crowbar and some explosives. |
Marmion Marine Park
Website: https://exploreparks.dbca.wa.gov.au/park/marmion-marine-park
Address: Marmion WA 6020, Australia
Contact details: +61 8 9303 7700
If you already saw everything Rottnest Island has to offer, then don’t fret because Marmion Marine Park is waiting for you! Located north of North Beach, this marine park hosts a rich variety of caves, reefs, and marine life just waiting to be discovered.
With a total area of 10,500 hectares, Marmion Marine Park is known as the first marine park established by the government of Western Australia. Here, you can enjoy many water activities, like swimming, snorkelling, and windsurfing.
Aside from its natural features like reefs and underwater caves, Marmion Marine Park also has a shipwreck called the Centaur, which you can explore during your snorkelling session.
Furthermore, Marmion Marine Park is also a great place to do some whale watching because it’s one of the many places humpback whales visit during their migration period, which is between September and November.
| Pro tip: While Marmion Marine Park is generally safe for snorkelling, even for beginners, the park’s authority still strongly urges its visitors to follow these steps before diving: Check the weather report for the day Make sure to have a dive flag so rescuers can immediately spot youAvoid swimming under ledges and into caverns especially if you’re still a novice in snorkellingAvoid places with heavy boat traffic |
Claisebrook Cove
Address: 60 Royal St, East Perth WA 6004, Australia
Perth has plenty of riverside precincts that let you enjoy a delicious dinner while taking in the sights of the beautiful Swan River. One of those is Claisebrook Cove, an inner-city park that surrounds an inlet in East Perth.
Built in the 1990s as part of a major redevelopment project in the area, Claisebrook Cove is a great place to visit for anyone who prefers to avoid busier parks like Elizabeth Quay while still having the chance to mingle with many people.
That’s because, like its more popular counterparts, Claisebrook Cove is also filled with amazing bars and restaurants like The Claisebrook Bar, Gioia On The River, and Royal Cambodia.
And have I already mentioned the amazing views? Aside from the Swan River, you’ll also have a clear sight of various riverside attractions, like Optus Stadium, which shines brightly at night, especially during a major footy game.
Another cool aspect of Claisebrook Cove is the many mini-festivals held there. In fact, it’s a venue for Perth’s Christmas Lights Trail, an event held every December that features a series of Christmas-themed light installations spread across the city.
| Pro tip: You can easily get to Claisebrook Cove without spending a dime by catching a free bus ride from any of the yellow CAT buses you’ll find cruising along the streets of the Perth CBD. However, yellow CAT buses follow a route that has 29 stops, and Claisebrook Cove is at the end of this route. Make sure you have a book or a portable console with you that can keep you occupied during your entire ride. |
