Commercial

Statement of Significance

The place has historic significance representing the development of commercial services in Hay Street during its development in the early 1900s. It has social significance as a place for the provision of community services and also employment in the commercial/service industry. It has aesthetic significance as a good example of a commercial building which contributes to the streetscape and character of the surrounding area.

Physical Description

Addresses corner. Two storey commercial building. Rendered brick walls with large aluminium shop windows to lower storey. Timber and glazed door to corner of building with airconditioner installed in fanlight over. Three fabric awnings are recent. Original timber double hung windows to upper storey. Moulded cornice decoration to parapet.

History

Originally William McCaw, bookseller & newsagent (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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