Jacob's Ladder is an outdoor

staircase A stairwell or stair room is a room in a building where a stair is located, and is used to connect walkways between floors so that one can move in height. Collectively, a set of stairs and a stairwell is referred to as a staircase or stairway ...

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, Western Australia. Consisting of 242 concrete steps, the staircase links the north-east corner of King's Park with the Swan River, though it is not part of Kings Park itself. Beginning at the top end of Cliff Street and leading down to

Mounts Bay Road Mounts Bay Road is a major road in Perth, Western Australia, extending southwest from the Perth central business district, central business district along the north bank of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River, at the base of Kings Pa ...

, Jacob's Ladder is a popular site for Perth residents to exercise.

History

Originally known as ''Cliff Street Stairway'', it was originally constructed in 1909 as a straight staircase of 274

jarrah ''Eucalyptus marginata'', commonly known as jarrah, in Noongar language and historically as Swan River mahogany, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a tree with rough, fibro ...

steps as a cheaper alternative to a road for Mount Eliza residents to reach the river. According to legend, it acquired its current name from a local real estate agent who placed a sign at the base of the staircase, in reference to both the Bible story about a ladder to heaven and the stunning views at the top of the structure. The original wooden structure was closed and demolished in 1961 due to safety concerns and replaced by the winding concrete staircase still in use today. According to legend,

Herb Elliott Herbert James Elliott (born 25 February 1938) is a former Australian athlete and arguably the world's greatest middle-distance runner of his era. In August 1958 he set the world record in the mile run, clocking 3:54.5, 2.7 seconds under the r ...

trained on the original timber version of Jacob's Ladder before it was replaced by its current concrete and metal version.

Incidents

The staircase was closed for three months after being damaged by a landslide during a storm on 22 March 2010. It re-opened on 21 June 2010, after repairs. In November 2023, the staircase was closed for three weeks after a deliberately-lit bushfire caused some minor structural damage. The staircase's enduring popularity with joggers has led to complaints from some nearby residents over noise and inconsiderate behaviour.

References

{{Commons category-inline Stairways Kings Park, Western Australia