Bellevue
Built on bricks . .
The area takes its name from Edward Robinson's farm which, in its day, was considered to be a model farm. Robinson built his homestead in 1887, calling it Belle View. The bricks for the house were made on site from the local clay deposits. This natural resource led to commercial brickmaking in the area in the mid-1890s. At one stage, the largest concentration of brickyards in WA were clustered near the Bellevue railway station. As a result of this industry, Bellevue grew significantly.
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Image: "Belle View" c.1935 - City of Swan Local History Collection
a brickbat . .
Bellevue had an overhead bridge that had been erected in a hurry after notices around the railway platform threatened prosecution for trespassing on the line. This was despite the fact that it was impossible to reach the island platform without crossing the line!
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and bacon . .
A smallgoods factory that was able to handle more than six hundred pigs a week, railway workshops, and an abattoir in nearby Midland, all now gone, boosted the sale of blocks in the area. The racecourse has now gone too. A large portion of Bellevue that was originally in the Shire of Mundaring now falls within the neighbouring City of Swan.
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State Registered Place in Bellevue is:
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Mosaic ref: 2006.50
Above: Residential lots for sale, close to Bellevue Station, c1900. Image courtesy SLWA b5143513_2
Above: Joseph Hesketh's brickworks in Bellevue, c1915. Workers standing in front of the works building. MHHS Collection 2006.50.
Above: V class 1217, on No 20 up goods train, bracket signal, signal box Bellevue, Eastern Railway Line. Courtesy Rail Heritage WA Archive Photo P17506