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Eureka Flour Mill
The Eureka Flour Mill is at 6 Nairn St. There was a major fire here around 1901, tho most of the 1876 building still stands.
The Eureka flour mill before its most recent renovation (Hutchison, 2006).
Hutchison:
No. 6. W.D. Moore bought the property in 1864. Possibly in partnership with W.E. Marmion, he established the Diamond Flour Mill on the site in c. 1870. That mill was burnt down and a new mill built in 1876, and known at that time as the Phoenix Mill. The property was bought by Fremantle Milling Company in 1891 and renamed the Eureka Mill. The company moved to Cottesloe in 1905. In 1950 the former mill and warehouse were used by Westralian Farmers Ltd as a woolstore. In the 1980s the building was altered to house a restaurant with accommodation on the upper level, and in the 1990s the former warehouse was converted to apartments. (Hutchison)
Google Maps snap, 2018
Fremantle Library photo ref. no. 715, showing the 1901 fire. 'A crowd watching a fire at the Eureka Flour Mill in Nairn Street near Pakenham Street. A dray is loaded with crates and another with sacks. J.M. Drummond's store can be seen in the background' [in Pakenham Street].
Heritage Council:
History
Nairn Street was named for Major William Nairn of 46th Regiment, original grantee of land in Grass Valley, east of Northam.
Lot 442 & 443 was registered to George Lazenby in 1834, and to W. D. Moore in 1864. The Diamond Flour mill was erected on the site after 1869, by Moore and W. E. Marmion. The mill was situated between Nairn and Bannister Streets on land which had been described by the engineer as "practically swamp". The mill was destroyed by fire, but in 1876 it was rebuilt and renamed the Phoenix (legend says that the phoenix rises, born anew from the ashes of its own immolation). Rates records of 1880 describe the property as "mill and buildings", still owned and occupied by Moore and Marmion.
By 1891 the mill had changed hands, purchased by Fremantle Milling Co, and renamed the Eureka Mill. In c. 1901 the mill once again caught fire, the event captured on film (LHC photo 715). The Eureka Flour Mill was then relocated to Cottesloe in 1905.
Later rates entries c. 1910 refer to a cottage and stables on the property as well as the old mill. In the 1950s it was a wool store for Westralian Farmers Ltd.
The building was converted to a restaurant in 1980, with a residence above. Renovations were undertaken in 1985.
Currently (2002), Residential - Flats/apartment block.
Physical Description
Two-storey lime-washed stone building returning on the north side with car bays around a courtyard. There is brick quoining around door and window openings. The building has a zincalume hipped roof. External stairs on the east side are recent. The building has been converted to apartments.
Statement of Significance
The place has historic and social significance as a former mill providing food stuffs to the colony. The place has aesthetic significance as an early building dating from the pre-gold boom period in Fremantle.
References and Links
Hutchison, David, Fremantle Walks.
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 26 June, 2015 and hosted at freotopia.org/buildings/eureka.html (it was last updated on 29 March, 2024), and has been edited since it was imported here (see page history). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.