Northampton, Western Australia
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Northampton is a town 52 km north of Geraldton, in the Mid West region of Western Australia. It is historic, with an outstanding national trust building. The town lies on the North West Coastal Highway. Formerly named Gwalla after the location's copper mine, it was established by the ex-convict Joseph Horrocks.
The town is known for its many wildflowers, and cave paintings at the Bowes River turnoff show that the region has been inhabited by Australian Aborigines.
[edit] History
Copper and lead ore were found in the 1840s, and by 1877 4,000 tons of copper and lead were being produced each year. A railway eventually had to be constructed, since moving the materials by wagon to nearby Port Gregory proved to be too difficult. The railway line from Geraldton to Ajana passed through Northampton, with the line closed on April 29, 1957.
[edit] References
- Anglican Church of Australia
- walkabout.com.au
- Gibbs, M. 1997 Landscapes of Meaning - Joseph Lucas Horrocks and the Gwalla Estate, Northampton, Western Australia. Historical Traces: Studies in Western Australian History, No. 17. University of Western Australia Press.
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