Byford, Western Australia

Little has been documented of the Aboriginal occupation of the Byford area, but material traces of the district's original inhabitants have been found in numerous locations. The foothills were on the periphery of Thomas Peel's 1834 land grant, and during the 1840s European settlers took up small land holdings in the area.[5] Names of early settlers included Lazenby, Mead, and Liddelow.[6] Mead was an enterprising farmer with numerous landholdings in the foothills between the Serpentine River and the Wongong Brook,[7] and at East Rockingham.[8] The district had an entirely rural population until the early part of the 20th century.

The old Byford railway station, shortly before its demolition (1987).

Brickmaking contributed much to the development of Byford. Shale at Cardup had already come to the attention of colonists by the 1850s, but it was not until around the turn of the 20th century that a commercial brickmaking venture commenced at Cardup. In 1903, John Millard (a former manager of the Bunning Bros brickworks in East Perth) established The Cardup Steam Pressed Brick Company. Two years later, he entered into partnership with Atkins and Law, a rising giant in Western Australia's commercial world. With an injection of capital from Atkins and Law, the brickworks grew to become one of the state's leading producers of pressed shale brick.[9]

A second major brickworks was set up at Beenup, north of Cardup, in 1913. This industry was a state government initiative aimed at reducing the cost of worker housing. Like the brickworks operating at Cardup and Armadale, this one exploited the shale deposits of the escarpment to produce high quality pressed brick and used the railway to transport the finished product to customers. The State Brickworks at Byford closed down in 1964, due in part to its operations being eclipsed by a new brickworks in Armadale.[10] The Cardup brickworks closed in 2012,[11] but much of the infrastructure is still extant.

Shortly after the brickworks had been established at Beenup, local land owner Mr C C Blythe (of Blythewood Park Estate) initiated the planning of another townsite on the eastern side of the rail line - a convenient distance from the brickworks and highway. The new townsite, which is now the most established part of Byford, has a distinctive square plan in which are centred two concentric circles, long diagonal roads, and short perpendicular roads. Blythe gave the new settlement a hall. A new name for the township was chosen by residents in 1919 and gazetted the following year.[12] Anglican and Presbyterian churches and a state school were among the first community buildings erected in Byford.

The original 1906 township was located south-west of the intersection of Soldiers Road and Mead Street[13] but it appears that little if any housing was built in that area until much later in the 20th century.[14] However, the 1906 townsite included an allocation of land for recreation which is still used for that purpose today.

Construction of the South Western Railway reached the district in 1892. Some time later a stop bearing the name Beenup was established in the vicinity of the present day township. In 1957 a station was established on the line between Abernethy Road and Mead Street.[15] After a long period of disuse, this station was demolished around 1990. The current Byford station is located just south of this. It is served by Transwa's twice daily Australind service from Perth to Bunbury.[16]

In the 1920s the estate of a local land-owner, Samuel Bateman, was subdivided into smaller farms for the Group Settlement Scheme.[17]

Employment provided by the State Brickworks, the Cardup Brickworks, and the munition works (i.e. the Royal Australian Navy Armament Depot) that were established between Nettleton Road and the Cardup Brook in 1942[18] were significant factors contributing to growth of the township of Byford. It was also a service town for a number of mill communities in the hills to the east and south-east, as well as a thriving rural community.

In 1977, the local government responsibilities for Byford were transferred from the Shire of Armadale-Kelmscott (now the City of Armadale) to the Shire of Serpentine-Jarrahdale.[19] Recently, Byford has become an extension of the Perth metropolitan area, connected to the Kwinana Freeway by Thomas Road, and has experienced a substantial rise in population.

Historically, Byford's rural land supported sheep, beef and dairy cattle, orchards, and a vineyard (Sunrays, owned by the Vlasich family),[20] but in recent decades there has been an increase in hobby farms geared to equine pursuits, and more recently housing estates with generous lot sizes.

A Free Reformed Church was opened on the corner of Soldiers Road and Mead Street in 1987, and a private school was later built alongside this church.

The new subdivision "Byford on the Scarp" was constructed on the long-disused Navy Armament Depot. The depot was closed in 1981 and its functions relocated to Garden Island. After standing empty and neglected for many years, the storage bunkers and other depot buildings were progressively demolished, this work being complete in 2000. Traces of the rail infrastructure that once served the depot and brickworks still are visible today.

In the early 2010s, "The Glades" was developed in the town's west and it became the first real estate development in the state to receive certification in the three categories of the UDIA EnviroDevelopment program. The development went on to win three awards, including two national awards.[21]

US navy sailors at Cohunu Koala Park in 2009

Construction on the Thomas Road bridge in August 2022

Byford is the location of the intersection between South Western Highway and Thomas Road, acting also as the eastern terminus of Thomas Road. As part of the Metronet Byford Rail Extension Project, the section of Thomas Road before the intersection was raised in order to remove the train crossing previously there. The new Thomas Road bridge opened on 15 November 2022.[39] Below are the two major roads that go through Byford and their direction:

• South Western Highway (State Route 20) – south to Pinjarra and Bunbury.
• Thomas Road (State Route 21) - west to Kwinana; eastern terminus in Byford.

Other important roads include Abernethy road, which connects Oakford to the South Western Highway; Nettleton road, which connects Byford to Jarrahdale through Karrakup; and Soldiers road, which connects to Mundijong.

As part of the Metronet Byford Rail Extension Project, the Armadale line will be extended 8 km south to a new station in Byford. As part of the extension, the Armadale Line is set to be shut down 20 November 2023.[40] The new station will be situated opposite George street and will consist of three platforms serving passengers of the Australind and Armadale lines.[41] Rita Saffioti, the state's Minister of Transport, and Hugh Jones, local Member of the Legislative Assembly, spoke of the station by saying it would boost Byford's future development and growth.[42]

In terms of busses, there are five bus stops along the South West highway in the town's main center. There also operates busses which take passengers to the main center.[43]