The South Perth Locale
The Rotaract Club of South Perth is the oldest chartered Rotaract Club in District 9470 in Western Australia, which is in Rotary Zone 8. There are two Rotary Clubs in South Perth, and a number of other clubs in surrounding suburbs.
If you aren't familiar with Australian cities, here is some background information about our very beautiful city, Perth, as well as some history about our picturesque suburb, South Perth.
Where is Perth?
Perth is the capital city of Western Australia, and is the most isolated capital city in the world. Perth is found in the far south of Western Australia, at latitude 32° South and longitude 115° East.
Perth was first founded by Europeans as the "Swan River Colony" in 1829. Because of its relative youth as a city, Perth is very multicultural, with very few families having lived in Perth for more than a couple of generations. Since most of Western Australia is desert ("the outback"), the vast majority of Western Australia's population lives in Perth. Perth currently has a population of around 1.5 million people.
Lonely Planet describes Perth as "a vibrant and modern city pleasantly sited on the Swan and Canning rivers", and says that Perth "claims to be the sunniest state capital in Australia". In the photos of Perth here (on the right: Perth taken from the South Perth foreshore by the Swan River; left: looking at Perth from Kings Park, across the Mitchell Freeway) you can see that it is indeed a fair claim!
About South Perth
As the name suggests, South Perth is the suburb immediately to the
south of the Perth Central Business District. South Perth is separated
from the Perth CBD by the Swan River, and with its stunning river
views, is one of the more affluent areas of Perth.
For the first 100 years, South Perth was a quiet retreat away from the hustle and bustle of the City. The Peninsula was one of the first areas settled during the establishment of the Swan River Colony, and was used predominantly for agriculture and horticulture to supply dairy foods to metropolitan Perth. South Perth broke away from the City of Perth to form a separate local authority in 1892.
Between 1850 and 1952, the wet soils of the Swan River foreshore were used for the Colony's first major market gardening area. After 1952, a mix of residential development and public parkland replaced the dairies and market gardens along the foreshore. South Perth ceased to be a quiet retreat in 1959 when the Narrows Bridge opened, bringing Mill Point, Mends St and Como Beach to within a few minutes drive of the City.
Between 1835 and 1859, the Colony's first successful wind-powered
flourmill, Shenton's Mill, operated on Mill Point Road (pictured
left). The stone building was restored in 1994 and is now listed as a
National Trust property. Now imaginatively referred to as the "Old Mill",
it is one of South Perth's main landmarks, and has been adopted by the Rotaract Club of South Perth as our logo.
South Perth is now home to the Perth Zoo, the Old Mill Theatre, a strip of trendy cafes and restuarants on Mends Street, numerous schools (both public and private) and businesses, and extensive parklands along the South Perth foreshore by the Swan River. Recreation in South Perth includes a lot of water sports and walking, cycling, or skating on the the footpaths by the river.
Last updated on Monday 30th of June 2008 by Ian Ball © copyright 2000 - 2009 Rotaract Club of South Perth
Rotaract is a non-profit, non-political, non-religious international professional development and volunteer service organisation of students and young professionals aged between 18 and 30. The Rotaract Club of South Perth, District 9470, Western Australia, is sponsored by the Rotary Club of South Perth-Burswood. ~~ May Peace Prevail on Earth! ~~
