Mundaring, Western Australia

Mundaring Perth, Western Australia
Statues in Sculpture Park, Mundaring
Mundaring
Coordinates	31°53′49″S 116°10′16″E / 31.897°S 116.171°E / -31.897; 116.171Coordinates: 31°53′49″S 116°10′16″E / 31.897°S 116.171°E / -31.897; 116.171
Population	3,011 (2011 census)[1]
Postcode(s)	6073
LGA(s)	Shire of Mundaring
State electorate(s)	Swan Hills
Federal Division(s)	Pearce
Suburbs around Mundaring: Parkerville Stoneville Mount Helena Mahogany Creek Mundaring Sawyers Valley Paulls Valley Paulls Valley Mundaring Weir

Mundaring is a suburb located 34 km east of Perth on the Great Eastern Highway. The suburb is located within the Shire of Mundaring.

The Aboriginal name of the area 'Mindah-lung', said to mean 'a high place on a high place', was anglicised to become 'Mundaring'.^[2]

The Mundaring area is also considered to be part of the Perth Hills area.

Newspapers

The Mundaring region is currently well served by weekly and monthly newspapers –

• Chidlow Chatter
• Darlington Review – locality specific
• The Echo – weekly – Midland based ^[3]
• Hills Gazette (Community Newspapers) – weekly ^[4][5]
• Mundaring magazine – monthly ^[6]

Earlier newspapers in the area included –

• The Darling ^[7]
• Swan Express – although Midland based had considerable space to 'Hills' stories.^[8]
  • It is also extracted in entries in the J S Battye Library catalogue with items about the Hills.

Railway

The only railway line current in the Mundaring Shire – is the third route of the Eastern Railway which passes through Bellevue and Swan View. The railway routes mentioned below – first route and second route are no longer operational – and constitute sections of the Railway Reserve Heritage Trail. The Eastern Railway passed through Mundaring on its first route through to Chidlow. Mundaring railway station, and the branch railway leading from it – the Mundaring Weir Branch Railway were significant locations for the construction of the Mundaring Weir. Following the construction of the second route of the Eastern Railway, the Mundaring line served as an alternative to the second route at the time of accidents and derailments, until its closing to traffic in 1954. The line through Mundaring was known as the Mundaring Loop to railway administration in its later years of operation, while in earlier years it was known as Smiths Mill Branch (the earlier name for Glen Forrest).

Mundaring Geophysical Observatory

Mundaring was the location of a Bureau of Mineral Resources Geophysical Observatory from 1959 to April 2000 ^[9][10] The annual reports from the Observatory constituted the seismic record of the state of Western Australia for that period of time as well as reports and summaries of activity ^[11][12][13]

Environment

The town lies within the Mundaring-Kalamunda Important Bird Area, so identified by BirdLife International because of its importance as a non-breeding season roost site and foraging base for Long-billed Black Cockatoos.^[14]

References

Further reading

• Elliot, Ian (1983). Mundaring – A History of the Shire (2nd ed. ed.). Mundaring: Mundaring Shire. ISBN 0-9592776-0-9. 
• Spillman, Ken (2003). Life was meant to be here: community and local government in the Shire of Mundaring. Mundaring: Mundaring Shire. ISBN 0-9592776-3-3. 
• Watson, Lindsay (1995). The railway history of Midland Junction: commemorating the centenary of Midland Junction, 1895-1995. Swan View, WA: L & S Drafting in association with the Shire of Swan and the Western Australian Light Railway Preservation Association. ISBN 0-646-24461-2. 

External links

• Shire of Mundaring Website
• Mundaring Tourism Association Website
• Mundaring and Hills Historical Society Website
• Golden Pipeline Website