Jerramungup, Western Australia

Jerramungup is a Western Australian town located in the Great Southern agricultural region, 454 kilometres (282 mi) southeast of Perth and 6 kilometres (4 mi) west of the Gairdner River.

Jerramungup
Western Australia
Tobruk Road, Jerramungup, 2018
Jerramungup
Coordinates33.942°S 118.919°E / -33.942; 118.919
Population253 (2016 census)[1]
Established1953
Postcode(s)6337
Elevation322 m (1,056 ft)
Location
LGA(s)Shire of Jerramungup
State electorate(s)Roe
Federal Division(s)O'Connor

The area was settled by Europeans prior to 1848, with the first homestead being built by John Hassell in 1848. The property was known as Jarramongup Station and was inherited by his son, Albert Young Hassell, who took up residence there with his wife Ethel after his father's death in 1885.[2] The station was put up for sale by Edney Hassell and remained on the market for some time until it was acquired by the state government in 1950.[3]

The town of Jerramungup was established in 1953 to support a war service land settlement project that was initiated in 1949. The townsite was gazetted in 1957.[4][5]

The town hall and the school were both built in 1958 along with two houses. Construction of the Cooperative Bulk Handling wheat bin was completed in 1961. The first powerhouse was completed in 1963.[3]

Jerramungup (Yarra-mo-up) is an Aboriginal word said to mean "place of the tall yate trees".[6] The yate tree (Eucalyptus cornuta) is an evergreen tree that grows to a height of 20 m with a diameter of one metre. It has orange bud caps and greenish yellow flowers, and is common in the southwest of WA.[7] The name was first recorded by Surveyor General John Septimus Roe in 1847, when carrying out exploration of the area, noting that natives referred to the river and its numerous branches as "Jeer-A-Mung-Up". Roe later named the same river near its mouth the Gairdner River, not realising they were the same, and this is the name now used for the river.

The town hall was opened in April 1958 and is known colloquially as the "Root Pickers Hall" as it was paid for by volunteers picking mallee roots.[8]

200 tonnes of Laguna Verde or Laguna Green monzonite from Jerramungup were used to make the Australian War Memorial in London, which was opened in Hyde Park in 2003. The quarry is situated 21 km south of the town, at Wirrup Hill.[9]

References
  1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Jerramungup (Urban Centre)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  2. Izett, EK 2014, 'Breaking new ground: early Australian ethnography in colonial women's writing', Doctor of Philosophy.
  3. "Shire of Jerramungup - Municipal Inventory". Shire of Jerramungup. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
  4. "Shire of Jerramungup Local Planning Strategy" (PDF). Western Australian Planning Commission. Shire of Jerramungup. 13 June 2006. p. 12. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  5. Goode, Brad (2010). "Report of an ethnographic aboriginal heritage survey of the Hamersley Drive upgrade and materials extraction pits within the Fitzgerald River National Park and Hopetoun, Western Australia" (PDF). Environmental Protection Authority. Dunsborough, WA: Brad Goode and Associates Pty Ltd. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  6. Forrest, Roni; Crowe, Stuart (1996). Yarra-mo-up, Place of the Tall Yate Trees: A Report on the Noongar Social History of the Jerramungup Region. Australian Government Pub. Service [for Australian Heritage Commission].
  7. Boland, Douglas J.; McDonald, Maurice William (2006). "Yate". Forest Trees of Australia. CSIRO Publishing. p. 334. ISBN 0643069690. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  8. "Tourism: Jerramungup". Shire of Jerramungup. 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  9. Siddall, Ruth; Clements, Diana (2013). "The War Memorials at Hyde Park Corner and Green Park" (PDF). University College London. London. p. 4. Retrieved 25 January 2015.

Media related to Jerramungup, Western Australia at Wikimedia Commons

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.