[[../index.html|Freotopia]] > [[../westend/index.html|West End]] >
Former Banks in High Street
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Union Bank, 1889, 4 High St
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Bank of NSW, 1899, 7 High St
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National Bank, 1887, 16 High St
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Bank of Australasia, 1901, 18 High St
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Commercial Bank, 1901, 20 High St
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Western Australian Bank, 1891, 22 High St
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Bank of Adelaide, 1910, 64 High St
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[[../buildings/mason.html|Mason's Building]], at one time a Commonwealth Bank building, 1908, 66-70 High St
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Commonwealth Bank building, 1934, 82 High St. Architects: Forbes and Fitzhardinge (alterations 1967-68). This building, with its massive columns, is of a markedly different style to other buildings nearby. Thomas Bousfield established a menswear business in 1902, doing a good trade fitting out diggers heading for the Eastern Goldfields. He occupied the premises for three years. They were demolished in the 1930s and the existing building was constructed in c. 1935 for the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. Alterations were carried out in 1967-68. The Hospital Benefit Fund bought the place in 1977 and restored the c. 1935 building. In 2005 it was occupied by Indigenart and the Mossenson Gallery. ([[../fremantlewalks/index.html|Hutchison]]: 148.)
Now commercial premises whose tenants often change. New Editions Bookshop was here before moving to the corner of High and Henry Streets. More recently: Common Ground. In 2021: Fremantle Pharmacy.
ANZ Bank building, 86 formerly 84 High Street, 1930, originally the Union Bank of Australia. Architects: Hobbs, Smith and Forbes (1929), Summerhayes and Associates (1959), Forbes & Fitzhardinge (1960). Builder: R.V. Ritchie (1929), A.H. Thompson (1959). By 1928 there were four shops on this site. The Union Bank of Australia Ltd purchased the property and commissioned the building in 1929. lnitially, besides the bank, other tenants included a wool company, a hairdresser, a medical practitioner, a dentist and solicitors. Renovations were carried out in 1959 and 1969. The property was transferred to the Australia and New Zealand Bank Ltd (ANZ) which continued to operate a branch there until 1990. The bank, on moving to new premises in 1991, sold the property. It was used briefly by a ‘market’ selling handmade knick-knacks and keepsakes. The new owners were granted approval to convert the premises to a restaurant. However, in 2005, they were vacant. Since 2005 there have been various tenants. In 2018: World of Renovation. In 2021 the building still has that name and is occupied by more than twenty renovation, building, and home-design businesses, including Barefoot Renovations and Bauen Projects, with a display room, design studio, a range of products, a cafe in the rear courtyard - and the space is available for functions.
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Temporarily the local police station, (until the new one is built in South Terrace on the former [[../buildings/ba%20%20%20%20rracks.html|Barracks]] site), 88 High Street was previously a branch of the National Australia bank.
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Bank of Australasia (2). Builder: [[../people/rennie.html|Richard Rennie]]. Nos. 93-95 High Street. Economic Stores, a small department store, occupied an earlier building on this site from 1900. The Bank of Australasia bought it in c. 1934 and the original building was demolished. The existing building was completed in 1938 and comprised banking chambers, strongrooms and a shop. The manager’s residence was upstairs, a common practice at the time. The bank continued to operate there until 1952, when it was bought by the government and became the Fremantle Radiological Clinic. To attempt the eradication of tuberculosis, which was epidemic in the early 1950s, the government introduced compulsory chest X-rays in 1952. This reduced the number of cases significantly by the end of the 1950s and the clinic was eventually closed in 1984. For the next ten years the building was occupied by the Fremantle Coastal Districts Branch of Alcoholics Anonymous. [[../fremantlewalks/index.html|Hutchison]].
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National Hotel, 98 High St, on the corner with Market St, 1902; restored 1995, 2001, 2013. A branch of the National Bank operated on the site from 1880 in a former shop. Six years later the bank relocated and the building was converted to a hotel for J.J. Higham, opening in 1886 as the National.
Heritage Council:
As the maritime gateway to Perth, Fremantle also benefited from the gold discoveries. Major building works were undertaken and a major proportion of the current building stock of central Fremantle was built between 1890 and 1910. By 1896, the commercial centre of Fremantle was well established in Cliff Street as it facilitated the transport of goods from the sea jetty to the Swan River and then on to Perth. The business district centred mainly on the east [sic - 'west' must be intended] end of High Street and along Mouat, Pakenham and Henry Streets. It was to this area that the banks were attracted to locate their branch buildings. Bank of Australasia was built after three other banks in the street. These were: the National Bank at No. 16 High Street, built in 1887; the Western Australian Bank at No. 22, built in 1891; and, the Commercial Bank at No. 20, built in 1901. These buildings have similar architectural elements, are of similar stylistic idiom and have attached residences. Bank of Australasia at No. 18 High Street is sited on portion of Fremantle Town lots 29 & 30 ... Heritage Council.
This page incorporates material from Garry Gillard's Freotopia website, that he started in 2014 and the contents of which he donated to Wikimedia Australia in 2024. The content was originally created on 29 August, 2015 and hosted at freotopia.org/banks/index.html (it was last updated on 24 July, 2023), and has been edited since it was imported here (see page history). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.