Lake Grace, Western Australia

Lake Grace is a town located in the Eastern Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, 345 kilometres (214 mi) from Perth along State Route 107 between Wagin and Ravensthorpe. It is the main town in the Shire of Lake Grace.

1 History
- 1.1 Natural disasters
2 Present day
3 References
4 External links

[edit] History

The area was first taken up for agriculture around 1911, and in 1913 a school was established here and named Lake Grace after the nearby lake. In 1914 the government planned to extend the railway network from Kukerin to Lake Grace, and local settlers lobbied for a townsite to be declared at the terminus. The railway was constructed in 1916, and terminated close to the site of the existing school. The townsite of Lake Grace was gazetted later in 1916.

Lake Grace Australian Inland Mission Hospital Museum

In 1922 the Reverend John Flynn visited the town to assess the suitability for establishing an Australian Inland Mission (AIM) hospital. The Western Australian Government agreed to subsidise the building of the hospital, which was subsequently built by AIM and opened in April 1926 staffed by two nurses, Olive Bennett and Helen Cousin. In July 1934 the Lake Grace Hospital Board repaid the loan from the Australian Inland Mission and took over the ownership of the hospital. The hospital served an area of 26,000 square kilometres (10,000 sq mi) including providing maternity ward facilities. The hospital ceased operation in 1952 with the construction and replacement by the Lake Grace Memorial Hospital. The Lake Grace AIM Hospital building was in disrepair by 1983 with the state Government deciding to demolish the building. Protests by former staff and the local community halted the destruction, and the building was restored as a museum with the help of the Lake Grace Shire Council and the local community. The building is one of three remaining Australian Inland Mission hospitals and is listed on local, state and national heritage registers.

The lake after which the townsite was named was given the name Lake Grace by Marshall Fox, the District Surveyor, in 1910. It is named after Grace Brockman, the wife of the then Surveyor General, Frederick S Brockman. Grace Brockman became famous in 1876 when she, as Grace Bussell, and her stockman Sam Isaacs, rescued many people from the wreck of the "Georgette" near the mouth of the Margaret River.^[1]

[edit] Natural disasters

In late 2005 and early 2006, Lake Grace experienced two natural disasters. The first was a hail storm on 16 October 2005, which destroyed 500 hectares of wheat and barley crop and damaged a further 5,500 hectares, with some farmers reporting fields covered by up to 25 cm of hail and kilometres of road turned white. It was accompanied by about 60 mm of rainfall.^[2]

On 13 January 2006, the town was flooded by Tropical Cyclone Clare, receiving 230 mm of rainfall. It was declared a disaster zone by the State Government. Just over a week later, the town was hit again by rain from Tropical Cyclone Daryl. Large pumps were brought in to help dry out flooded roads, and the main highway to Perth was reopened six weeks later.^[3]^[4]

According to the Bureau of Meteorology, Lake Grace normally receives 353.3 mm of rainfall per annum with 16.3 mm in January.^[5]

[edit] Present day

Lake Grace has a population of about 530 and is a typical wheatbelt town with the inevitable grain silos, CBH bulk loading facilities and a pub. It contains a district high school, Westpac Bank, shopping facilities, accommodation (hotel, motel, caravan park), council offices and a telecentre.

The town is a stop on the Transwa bus service to Esperance.^[6]