Buildings/atlas.html
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Atlas Chambers
Atlas Chambers, 1890, Town Lot 16, 6-8 Cliff St, is between Phillimore Chambers, on the corner of Phillimore Street, and the Fremantle Hotel, on the corner of High Street.
Hutchison:
This building is of unusual design for this part of Fremantle, with its window awnings and a pair of tall pyramidal roofs. The awnings and roofs were tiled at one stage, possibly in place of shingles. This gave them a heavy appearance. The tiles have been replaced with corrugated iron. The site was owned by the Helpman family from 1855 to 1881. From 1880 to 1882 a printer, James Pearce, leased buildings on the site, and in c. 1882 W.F. Samson bought the property and used it as additional premises for Lionel Samson and Son. From 1901 it was let to Margaret Currie and a Miss Smith who ran a boarding house and restaurant there. The Samsons sold the property to the Municipal Tramways in 1903, which, thirty years later, became the Fremantle Municipal Tramways and Electric Light Board, which continued to own it until 1951. It was then acquired by Elder Smith and Company and leased to Robert Laurie and Company. It was sold back to Lionel Samson and Son in 1968. Hutchison.
Heritage Council:
Built c. 1890, and referred to as Atlas Chambers in 1900 Post Office Directory. Currently (2002), commercial use.
Cliff Street in the 1850s was a busy thoroughfare connecting the sea front jetty with the river. Many businesses were located along the route. The street was paved in 1858 with hand-tolled Yorkshire flagstones by sappers of the Royal Engineers. The job was completed by private contract after the sappers were needed elsewhere. Apparently, convicts were not skilled enough for the job. To meet the expense, dog licences, poundage fees and fines were raised by the Town Trust.
Two-storey rendered building with a zincalume hipped roof (probably not original). There is a zero setback from the pavement and engaged pilasters that reach the cornices. The ground floor façade features stucco arches that consist of two entrances outside the two large central windows, which have multi-paned fanlights. The first floor has pairs of double-hung sash windows with decorative stucco reveals. Heritage Council.
The name on the left hand side of the building, Abrugiato, is that of the family which established the Roma Restaurant in about 1940 in the Owston Building, around the corner in High Street. The restaurant is still trading.
References and Links
Hutchison, David, Fremantle Walks.
This page incorporates material from Garry Gillard's Freotopia website, that he started in 2014 and the contents of which he donated to Wikimedia Australia in 2024. The content was originally created on 27 December, 2018 and hosted at freotopia.org/buildings/atlas.html (it was last updated on 18 March, 2024). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.