the gosnells road district was created out of the abolished canning road district on 1 july 1907. industry in the form of brickworks were introduced to beckenham in the early 1990s. between 1912 and 1915 fruit fly wiped out nearly all of the stone fruit crops in the region and many farmers turned to dairying and market gardening. irrigation was vital due to sandy, infertile soils of canning vale. in 1923, the city received land from jandakot road district when that entity was abolished. significant development did not occur until the post-war years. the population grew from 7,400 in 1954 to about 11,000 in 1966, and then to 21,000 in 1970. on 1 july 1961, gosnells road district became the shire of gosnells following enactment of the "local government act 1960". on 1 july 1973 it gained town status as the town of gosnells and assumed its current name when it attained city status on 1 july 1977.