Stirling

Stirling was named after Admiral Sir James Stirling, who explored and colonised the Swan River and was the first Governor of Western Australia.

Stirling was originally an extension of the Osborne Park market garden area, with the swampy land used for rural purposes. The Perth Road Board had their main offices in the Cecil Building in Perth.  When it was proposed to demolish existing Cecil Building in 1958 to replace it with new Cecil Building, it precipitated a plan to move the offices to the municipality.  At this time the Perth Road Board had been operating 92 years and was the second largest local authority in WA at the time, with a population of nearly 100,000.  It was decided to build in the then geographical centre of the municipality, on land owned by the Osborne Park Agricultural Society, remembering that Maylands was part of the Perth Road Board then.  The purchase price of the 23 acres was 6,250 pounds.

 The cost of the new building was 63,228 pounds, and the builders were Anderson Constructions Pty Ltd, the architect was J. William Hawkins, and A.R.A.T.A. was awarded the contract to build main offices in 1962.  The design featured an X shaped building with double storey facing Hertha Road which was intended to give each branch of Council activities its own section.  The original plan had been meant not to exceed 60,000 pounds cost.  The design was planned to permit the use of natural lighting.

 A Referendum had been held in 1937 in which majority of enrolled ratepayers who responded voted for office buildings within the municipality, but unfortunately the building was delayed by the advent of World War II.  The issue of offices within the municipality was raised again in 1956, finally resulting in the opening of the main office buildings in Hertha Road in 1963.  The Depot buildings had been built previously by C.B. & M. Wildy for 11,540 pounds, and Perth Road Board office staff moved in to this temporary accommodation during December 1958.  A new Council Chamber and Reception hall were opened in 1966 to relieve over-crowding in the office building.  Two prefabricated buildings had already been bought in to cope with the expansion of staff.

The locality remained part of Osborne Park until 1976, when it was officially gazetted as Stirling. Subdivision commenced in 1978 and continued throughout the 1980's, with small pockets of land still being built upon in the 1990's. Stirling is now almost completely developed and contains several regional facilities. The future development of the Stirling Regional Centre around the existing railway station will also add to the strategic importance of the area.