Essex Street
![]() | |
Suburbs: | |
---|---|
Named after: | Essex |
Connects with: | |
Wikidata: | Q62029350 |
OpenStreetMap: | 13132518 |
-32.057069, 115.747382 |
Essex Street runs between South and Marine Terraces. It is named after the English county northeast of London.[1] At the northeast end it does not align with Henderson Street, heading southwest directly opposite the Freemasons Hotel (Sail & Anchor) towards the Esplanade Hotel's (newer) main entrance on the corner with Marine Terrace, where the first buildings were Captain Daniel Scott's warehousing which housed the first transportees when they arrived unexpectedly in 1850.
![](https://files.freo.wiki/thumb/f/fb/Freotopia_hotels_img_star770B.jpg/300px-Freotopia_hotels_img_star770B.jpg)
The Star Hotel, with the second-storey verandah, is in the background in this 1918 photograph of Essex Street taken from the verandah of the Freemasons Hotel - or perhaps that of the King's Theatre, from the angle. This is Fremantle Library photo #770B, with this title and caption.
Library:
First naval procession in Fremantle:
Looking down Essex Street from the balcony of the Freemason's [sic] Hotel on 6 December 1918. On the right is Barrett's wood yard. On the left are Mills & Co., merchants and F. Instone & Co. Ltd., in a building constructed in 1906 by C. Moore to a design by J.F. [[../people/allen.html|Allen]]. In the background are the [[../buildings/portflourmill.html|Port Flour Mill]] and the [[../hotels/star.html|Star Hotel]].
The Fremantle City Library holds this snap taken by the same photographer also taken on Navy Day 1918 (you can see many of the same people).
The most recent business on the Barrett's Woodyard site was a [[../buildings/hungryjacks.html|Hungry Jack's]] (Burger King) outlet, now closed.
The [[../hotels/star.html|Star Hotel]], with the second-storey verandah with the advertisement for Swan Lager, is behind the horse in this c.1925 photograph taken in Essex St. This is Fremantle Library photo #493C and comes with this caption.
Library:
Mr Alf Chate in Essex Street driving a horse and lorry from Port Mill, (then occupied by Henry Jones, IXL Jam Manufacturers and Foden and Bokenham, Motor Trimmers and Vulcanizers.) The horse was called "Old Bill" (Source: son of Mr Chate 7.08.1991). Note horse's feed bag and motor cars. The [[../buildings/portflourmill.html|Port Flour Mill]] was built before 1870 and is classified by the National Trust. The land and property was originally owned by Anthony Cornish. He sold by auction on 16.07.1884. Note also the Star Hotel (Lot 1821/2); delicensed in 1924 and used as a boarding house.
The Pirates Backpackers is at now 11 Essex St. The [[../hotels/star.html|Star Hotel]] was at 5 Essex St. It was built in 1887, rebuilt in 1914, and demolished in 1980. After losing its license in 1924 it was a boarding house. (Heritage Council) Photo thanks to mingor.net. I don't know if the building in the image is what's left of the Star Hotel. It seems to be at about the right distance from the flour mill building, which still exists. I hope to find this out before I die.
John Beresford is cited in this blog as being the licensee. At the time of his death, by shooting suicide, in 1908, he was the proprietor and licensee of the [[../hotels/esplanade.html|Esplanade Hotel]].
Buildings
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 28 April, 2019 and hosted at freotopia.org/streets/essex.html (it was last updated on 25 October, 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.