Perth City Baths was a public swimming facility, located on the north shore of

Perth Water Perth Water is a section of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River on the southern edge of the central business district of Perth, Western Australia. It is between the Causeway to the east, and Narrows Bridge (Perth), Narrows Bridge to ...

on the Swan River, in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, Western Australia. During his 1881 sojourn in Perth, exhibition impresario, Jules Joubert, had recommended that the City consider a public bath. The baths were opened in 1885, with segregated bathing. The ornate

Moorish The term Moor is an exonym used in European languages to designate the Muslim populations of North Africa (the Maghreb) and the Iberian Peninsula (particularly al-Andalus) during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a single, distinct or self-defi ...

style building was opened on 5 March 1898 by the Mayor of Perth,

Alexander Forrest Alexander Forrest CMG (22 September 1849 – 20 June 1901) was an explorer and surveyor of Western Australia, and later also a member of parliament. As a government surveyor, Forrest explored many areas of remote Western Australia, particula ...

and was leased to the

Perth City Council The City of Perth is a local government area and body, within the Perth metropolitan area, which is the capital of Western Australia. The local government is commonly known as Perth City Council. The City covers the Perth city centre and sur ...

. Costing £2600, equivalent to in , with government support, the mostly

jarrah ''Eucalyptus marginata'', commonly known as jarrah, in Noongar language and historically as Swan River mahogany, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a tree with rough, fibro ...

building had four towers capped by

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout. The word derives, via Ital ...

s and was designed by Johnson and built by C. Nelson. The baths were approached from The Esplanade on a jetty. A second set of baths opened at Crawley in February 1914 were the premier baths for the city. Debate about the location had included discussion of the possibility of being able to see into the baths from Kings Park, into the change rooms. The Perth baths were partially demolished in 1917, and completely removed by 1920.

References

{{Subject bar , auto=y , portal1=Western Australia , portal2=Modern history Sports venues in Perth, Western Australia Swimming venues in Western Australia History of Perth, Western Australia Perth Water Bathing in Australia Demolished buildings and structures in Western Australia Buildings and structures demolished in 1917