The City of South Perth Local History Collection is a source of knowledge, ideas, stories and memories. It is developed and managed as a community resource to inspire, educate and inform the community and visitors and to contribute to the conservation of the history and heritage of the City of South Perth.

The collection provides and preserves information about the suburbs of South Perth, Como, Kensington, Manning, Karawara and Salter Point.

Housed at the South Perth Library, the local history collection contains books, photographs, aerial maps, cartographic material, oral history interviews, objects, artworks, ephemera and local newspapers.

Books and Reports These include published and unpublished material and cover a wide range of subjects such as schools, sports, churches, biographies, town planning, heritage and environmental studies, and more.

Photographs The photograph collection dates back to the 1870s and much of it is available for viewing online through Picture South Perth.

Maps The aerial photograph collection commenced with the first commissioned aerial map of the municipality completed in 1930. Further aerial photographs were captured in 1948, 1959, 1969, 1978 and 1988. These are now available for viewing and searching online through the City of South Perth’s online mapping system, IntraMaps.

Oral Histories Oral history interview recordings are now available for loan through South Perth and Manning libraries. Many of them can also be accessed online through the South Perth Stories website.

Newspapers Copies of various historic local newspapers are available for viewing in microfiche format. Please refer to the list of newspapers.

Rate Books & Building Register Rate books ranging in date from 1899 to 1990 are available for viewing in microfiche format at the South Perth Library by appointment.

Archive Boxes The archive boxes contain a wide range of material, including letters and Council correspondence, as well as various donations of ephemera from local organisations including schools, sporting clubs, and community associations.