Maylands

Maylands is a riverside inner-city suburb approximately 4.5 kilometres (2.8 mi) northeast of Perth centred on the Midland railway line on the northern bank of the Swan River.

Maylands is a riverside inner-city suburb approximately 4.5 kilometres (2.8 mi) northeast of Perth centred on the Midland railway line on the northern bank of the Swan River.

The suburb was developed during the 1890s and is an administrative locality within the City of Bayswater (having been mostly within the City of Stirling until 1998), bordered by the suburbs of Mount Lawley, East Perth and Bayswater. Maylands railway station provides easy access to the City centre and beyond. The railway line was originally built in the 1880s, and the railway station was extensively refurbished in 2000. Recently a shared bicycle / pedestrian path was built to link Maylands with neighbouring suburbs via the shoreline of the Swan River. There is also a small yacht club and a golf course.

Maylands was once a source of clay for brick and tile making at Maylands Brickworks, and the pits from these activities are now part of a golf course and residential area. It was home to Perth's main airport which serviced many kinds of aircraft and even flying boats until the early 1960s, when the airport moved to Perth Airport. The facilities were then converted to a training area for the Western Australian Police Service.

In 1896 the name "Maylands" was first used to identify the area, appearing on a poster advertising a land auction. However the exact reason how the area got its name is something of a mystery. One theory is that Mephan Ferguson (owner of the local foundry) was responsible for naming the area, in honour of his aunt and daughter whom were both named May. Another theory is the area was named by Edgar. W. Hamer (Golds Estates of Australia) after he inspected land in the locality sometime in the month of May.

The Peninsula Hotel is located on Railway Parade in Maylands, Perth. The hotel was built in 1906 by well known building contractor, Friederich Wilhelm Gustave Liebe.

The Maylands Aerodrome was built at Maylands to support West Australian Airways Ltd, which flew the first commercial air service in Australia (before Qantas).Maylands Airport was where Charles Kingsford-Smith made his landing to complete the first non-stop flight across Australia. On 8 August 1928, the "Southern Cross" took off from Point Cook near Melbourne and set course for Perth, a distance of over 3,200 kilometres (1,990 mi). The first part of the flight Kingsford-Smith described as rather dull, while the second part was made thoroughly unpleasant by a cloud cover their heavy machine couldn't rise out of. For hours they endured the bitter cold and when daylight finally came, they discovered that they had drifted off course to Bunbury, 180 kilometres (112 mi) to the south. After their arrival at Maylands airport they found that summer rains had turned the field more or less into a swamp.During World War II, Maylands Airfield was requisitioned by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). From February 1942, it was also used by the United States Army Air Forces for refuelling and aircraft ferrying purposes. Between 6 April 1942 and 5 August 1943, No. 35 Squadron, flying Avro Ansons, was based at Maylands to transport supplies and passengers to Allied units throughout Western Australia, as well as supporting the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army.

In December 2009, the City of Bayswater endorsed the Maylands Activity Centre Urban Design Framework following widespread community consultation. The Urban Design Framework provides the strategic direction for the future of the Maylands town centre. This document has been instrumental in guiding the ongoing revitalisation of the Maylands town centre.

Over recent years, Maylands' revitalisation has gathered significant momentum, with a variety of new developments and businesses bringing new residents and vibrancy to the town centre. New bars, cafés and restaurants, along with gourmet food and retail outlets have all contributed to an ongoing transformation of the Maylands town centre into a lively, diverse and inclusive destination.

Maylands continues to evolve as a cultural and creative hub, with the relocation of the Western Australian Ballet to the former Western Australian Institute for the Blind building on Whatley Crescent in 2012. Estudio Nuevo, Studio 281, Swallow Bar and the Maylands Hawkers Markets each provide a variety of music, performance, dance, artistic, cultural and culinary experiences that exemplify Maylands' unique creative and community flavour.