Thornlie
The area now occupied by the suburb of Thornlie has been used by Aborigines and European people for a great many years.
The first intensive use of the site began in 1884 when an experimental farm was established on the site by Frank and Amy James. The venture itself was financed by wealthy philanthropist Walter Padbury, Amy's uncle.
The farm was named "Thornlie Park", with the bricks for the homestead and outbuilding being made on site. The James family sold the farm in 1937 to Nathaniel Harper.
By the early 1950s the post war migration population boom was impacting on Perth, with the result that the land was now far more valuable for residential development than for grazing and agistment. Thornlie Park was sold at auction and a new suburb rapidly developed. Within five years, paddocks and banksia scrub had given way to a new suburb with shops, a school and a bus service. While this new suburb derived its name from the old homestead (later destroyed by fire in 1975), the present suburb of Thornlie also overlaps other agricultural properties.
Thornlie boasted the first air-conditioned shopping mall in the state, numerous schools, including one of Australia's first Muslim secondary schools, and a number of amenities including the principal swimming and recreation complex for the City of Gosnells. Thornlie has also been the site of the carefully planned and marketed residential developments of Crestwood and Forrest Lakes.
To view the Suburb Snapshot, click HERE.