WAMining
Byford
A railway siding townsite that the State brickworks put on the map.
1906Beenup townsite declared
WHAT STARTED IT
The South Western Railway ran along the foot of the Darling Scarp, where clay land suited brickmaking. A townsite named Beenup was laid out beside the siding in 1906, and in 1913 the State bought clay land there for its brickworks.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
A rail siding to the State Brickworks was finished in 1913, and residents chose the name Byford in 1920, believed to refer to a ford on Beenyup Brook. The works ran as a State trading concern until 1961 and were demolished after closing in 1964.
TURNING POINTS
1906Surveyor A. W. Canning lays out lots and Beenup Townsite is declared in May.
1913The government buys land near Beenup for State brickworks, and a rail siding is finished in August.
1920Beenup is renamed Byford after the name Lynwood is refused.
1936The State Brickworks begins making glazed tapestry bricks.
1964The brickworks closes and is later demolished.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
One of Perth’s fastest-growing outer suburbs, with about 18,900 people in 2021, up from about 7,000 in 2011.