Quarry Street
Named for the quarry which used to be on its southern side, this short street has undergone serious development on the northwestern side. There is only one block depth between this street and Queen Victoria Streets, so most of the buildings here have numbers relating to the latter. Quarry Street retains few heritage buildings. Those I have provided pages for are at nos 23 and 25.
Some outcrops of limestone rock still exist in Fremantle Park, near Barnett Street for example, which are a reminder of how the street got its name.
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House, 3 Quarry Street. A 'heritage' house retained on what would otherwise have been a development block, between the Fremantle Pilots building at 1 Quarry Street and what will be a highrise block of flats.
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Photo of Park Bungalow, at 7 Quarry Street, which CY O'Connor and family inhabited 1891 and 1898-1900, demolished 1961. There was a child-minding centre there but the block was sold in 2021, and will be developed as more high-rise apartments, like the one next-door behind the former SEC building.
St Elmo, 17 Quarry Street (formerly no. 30), was built in 1888 for James Gilchrist by Howson and Fishwick builders. There was a dispute between the builders about the (substantial) front steps, with Howson owing Fishwick money. Howson became bankrupt and died, possibly as a suicide.
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Library: Number 17 and number 19 (photo by Skip Watkins, 1985, ref no E000212) were built on the lot [for] James Gilchrist, a policeman. One was built in 1888 and the second in 1891. The first occupant of the house built in 1891 was Lawrence Alexander, a manager at Falk and Co.
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Maggie Burrell's store, 23 Quarry St. The barely retained sign reads ALES WINES SPIRITS Retailed Here.
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25 Quarry Street, the former Dux Factory, is now the premises of Fremantle Press. It was at one time the residence and workshop of Scott Wise, luthier and musician. I believe that's Scott in the photo about to enter the building.
Quarry Street heading north starts at Parry Street (formerly Edward [Parry's first name] Street) at the corner of which is the Proclamation Tree in Mayor's Park, and the offices of Fremantle Pilots at no. 1.
The next intersection is with Barnett Street, with 'Pendennis', Isaac Bolton's house, on one corner at 2 Barnett Street , and ALES WINES SPIRITS on the other.
Following that is Shuffrey Street (named for an early resident of Barnett Street) the main feature of which is the Fremantle Leisure Centre (swimming pool) built on what was the garden of the Asylum.
At the interesection of James [Stirling] Street (which now continues east as Ord Street, it having been built through the centre of the former Asylum's grounds) is the Caledonian Hall, now retail premises, at 13-15 James Street. (The Broody Hen is currently on the ground floor corner.)
Quarry Street continues to Burt Street and the beginning of a large area which has always been a centre of military activity since colonisation, when the Cantonment was established on and below Cantonment Hill (and next to Cantonment Road - now known as Queen Victoria Street).
Quarry Street then becomes a no-through-road, really just a driveway leading up the steep hill to the small parking area at the former Signal Station, now the HQ for the Volunteer Sea Rescue group.
References and Links
Heritage Council page for the Dux Factory.
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 13 February, 2016 and hosted at freotopia.org/streets/quarry.html (it was last updated on 5 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.