The West End of Fremantle incorporates the Fremantle Prison, Esplanade Park, Bathers Beach, Notra Dame University and the majority of Historic & Heritage buildings in Fremantle. Fremantle was established in 1829 as a port for the fledgling Swan River Colony and was the major centre in Western Australia for much of its early history, becoming a city in its own right by 1929. Over 150 buildings in the port city are classified by the National Trust, many of which are to be found in the city's West End.

A triangle of land at the mouth of the Swan River, Fremantle's West End enjoyed unprecedented gowth and development around the turn of the 20th century, as the Western Australian gold rush brought an influx of both people and prosperity to Fremantle. It is today recognised as one of the world's best-preserved examples of a nineteenth-century port city and colonial townscape. Cliff Street in the 1850's was a busy thoroughfare connecting the sea front jetty with the river. The street was paved in 1858 with hand toiled Yorkshire flagstones by sappers of the Royal Engineers.