Houses & Shops

Statement of Significance

The place represents the historic development of Rokeby Road as a commercial street from the 1890s and early 1900s. It is significant as a pair of attached two storey shops with original shop fronts and significant face brick facades at first floor level.

Physical Description

Double storey commercial building comprising two shops. Turned timber posts in pairs supporting a curved metal verandah roof. English bond brickwork to walls. Rendered string course at sill level to upper storey. Decorative rendering above and below two sets of double hung windows with glazing bars to upper sashes. Parapet comprises two rendered peaked features between three piers. Ornate mouldings.

History

Originally Henderson Bros, grocers, (1910).
Subiaco began to develop as a residential and commercial area in the 1890s, with the first buildings being established along the railway line. In 1895 Rokeby Road was not yet gazetted and Hay Street was called Broome Road. By the turn of the century most of the main roads in central Subiaco were built, including Rokeby, Heytsebury, Hamersley, Bagot, Townshend, Park and Nicholson Roads. Many businesses had been established in Broome Road. Broome Road was named after Governor Broome, and was renamed Hay Street after Vice-Secretary of Colonies, 1829.
There were many land releases in the late 1890s and early 1900s as Subiaco become a popular place to settle, and businesses were attracted to the opportunity of opening in a new but stable suburb. The Rokeby Road and Hay Street commercial area was firmly established by 1915.
Over the years the nature of businesses have changed. Originally there were estate agents, dressmakers, tailors, confectioners, drapers, grocers, restaurateurs and bakers; in fact most shopping could be done without leaving the suburb.
(Sources: Wise's Post Office Directory 1893-1915; Real Estate Maps, Battye Library Collection; Spillman, Ken, Identity Prized: A History of Subiaco, City of Subiaco, UWA Press, 1985, pp. 92-110; Chate, A. H., History of Subiaco, c1952.)

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