Narrogin, Western Australia

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Narrogin
Western Australia
Population: 4,424
Established: 1890s
Postcode: 6312
Elevation: 192 m (630 ft)
Location:
LGA: Town of Narrogin
State District: Wagin
Federal Division: Pearce
Mean Max Temp Mean Min Temp Rainfall
22.4 °C
72 °F		 9.8 °C
50 °F		 499.6 mm
19.7 in

Narrogin (population 4,424 (2001)) is a large town in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, 192 kilometres (119 mi) southeast of Perth on the Great Southern Highway between Pingelly and Wagin. In the age of steam engines, Narrogin was one of the largest railway operation hubs in the southern part of Western Australia.

Pages associated with Narrogin, Western Australia

Contents

[edit] History

Location of Narrogin, Western Australia

Narrogin is an Aboriginal name, having been first recorded as "Narroging" for a pool in this area in 1869. The meaning of the name is uncertain, various sources recording it as "bat camp", "plenty of everything" or derived from "gnargagin" which means "place of water".[1]

The first Europeans into the Narrogin area were Hillman and his survey party who surveyed the track between Perth and Albany in 1835. They passed only 10 km west of the present site of Narrogin. In time they were followed by the occasional shepherd who drove his sheep into the area seeking good pastures.

The area was first settled in the 1860s and 1870s when pastoralists moved and settled in isolated outposts. The population was so scattered that there was no incentive in establishing a town.

The arrival of the Great Southern Railway in July 1889 initiated the first hint of a town. The railway company was in search of good reliable watering points along the route from Perth to Albany. The company which had won the railway contract, the WA Land Company, duly purchased Narrogin pool and it was around this pool that the town developed.

Narrogin was officially declared a town in June 1897 and it was gazetted as a municipality on 13 April 1906. The early years of settlement were hard with farmers relying on sandalwood cutting and the bark from mallet trees (it was used as a tanning agent) to compensate for poor returns from wheat and sheep.

Narrogin remained a major rail centre until the late 1970s when competition from road transport saw a reduction in the railways workforce from some 280 people to fewer than a dozen in 1995.

[edit] Narrogin Today

Narrogin's previous role as a major railway junction has acted as an attractor for agricultural service industries as well as government departments and agencies. The town has accumulated significant public infrastructure - mainly in the health and education areas. This infrastructure serves as the base for the modern regional centre that Narrogin has become today. Unlike many other rural regional centres throughout Australia, Narrogin is enjoying a strong and constant growth of approximately 2% per year, though at the expense of surrounding areas.[2]

[edit] Notable residents

Barry Cable, the star Perth and North Melbourne AFL player came from Narrogin.

It is also the birthplace of field hockey player Bevan George, who won the gold medal with the Australian Men's Team at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Also born in Narrogin is Brian Glencross, a retired Australian field hockey player and coach of the Australian Women's Team, Australian cricketers Brad Hogg and Shaun Marsh, and Australian Foreign Minister, Stephen Smith.

Albert Facey, author of A Fortunate Life, lived a period of his life in Narrogin.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Western Australian Land Information Authority. History of country town names - N. Retrieved on 2007-01-17.
  2. ^ Narrogin Shire Council

[edit] External links