Around 1880, Samuel August Salter (after whom Salter Point was named) worked as a sawyer and timber contractor on the peninsula. At the time, the area was completely undeveloped, surrounded by dense bush with no road access.
Salter established a landing stage on the point known as "Salter's Landing", to which timber logs could be floated from where they were cut in Kelmscott and Jarrahdale for transportation to a mill by barge. Salter operated his business from this location for several years, leading to the area being renamed "Salter Point".
Samuel August Salter (1849–1930) son of British migrants Samuel and Sarah Salter, and brother to Hannah.[clarification needed] Hannah Buckingham (Salter) married Thomas Buckingham in 1871 and lived in Kelmscott.
In 1929 a road to the location was made.[2] During the Great Depression, from around 1930 to 1933, up to 110 homeless people camped at Salter Point near what is now the Gentilli Way boatramp. The South Perth Road Board installed toilets and running water following an outbreak of typhoid at the camp. The residents lived in tents and shacks built out of old metal drums, relying on charity as there was little sustenance work available.[3]
In 1955, the area comprising Manning, Mt Henry, Salter Point and Waterford was annexed to the South Perth Road Board from the Canning Road Board.
In 1990, the suburb's name Salter Point was gazetted.
^Brooker, Jenna; Crisp, Nora; Prentice, Graeme; South Perth (W.A. : Municipality). Council (1994), Salter Point Foreshore management plan February 1994, City of South Perth, ISBN978-0-646-17865-3
