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WESTONIA
HEMA Map reference 74/B7
GPS 31 18 12 S 118 41 46 E
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STATISTICS
SERVICES
CARAVAN PARKS
HOTEL / MOTEL
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DESCRIPTION
Westonia sits on the border between the wheat belt and the goldfields almost exactly half way to Kalgoorlie. It is a charming little town and reflects the pride its residents obviously have in it.
The town's people have made an effort to show their town off in a way that depicts the past and buildings in Wolfram Street have been maintained in an effort to re-crate the look of the town from the early 1900s.
Other localities in the shire include Walgoolan, Carrabin and Warralakin.
The main industries in the area are wheat and sheep farming and mining with the nearby Edna May Mine creating a great deal of employment.
The recently opened Hood-Penn Museum is very worth while visiting and entry is via the shire office.
Unlike other local museums where the exhibits are mostly displayed on somewhat impersonal shelves, this museum has set up displays with remarkably life like figures that depict a local store, garage, lady's bedroom, dining room and even a hotel bar. The result of this are exhibits that you can really relate to.
The collection of glass bottles is very attractive and there is even an underground blast simulator that will give you a feel for what the experience is like for miners.
The museum came about after a generous donation of many historical items by the Hodd-Penn family after whom the museum has been named.
Elachbutting Rock.
Wave Rock is perhaps the most famous of the 'wave formation' rocks in W.A. but it is by no means an isolated formation.
'Elachbutting' meaning 'large thing standing' in the Aboriginal language is said by the tourist 'blurb' to be bigger, better and more pristine than any other granite formation in the wheat belt.
This rock is not well known as it is over 100 kilometres north of Westonia and is only accessible via unsealed gravel road.
42 kilometres north of town is Baladjie Rock, on the Koorda to Bullfinch road. This is a popular picnic site.
HISTORY
Gold was discovered here in 1910 by Alfred David Weston which created a boom for the area in the early part of the 1900s.
A month after Weston lodged his application for a lease, Edmund Annear applied for a lease at Boodalin Soak that he named Edna May after an aunt.
Initially known as Weston’s Reward the townsite was surveyed in 1913 and a Road Board was established in 1916 but it wasn’t until 1926 that it was finally gazetted as a town and the name changed to Westonia.
By 1917 the town had a population of over 2000 but as the fortunes of the mines subsided so did the town's population.
Mines have opened and closed in the area ever since, but the town has come to depend as much on wheat and sheep as on mining.
St. Lukes church was originally built in 1916 at a railway siding near Cocklebiddy called Naretha. When the workers at Naretha finished their work and moved on the church was dismantled and taken to Kalgoorlie. In 1918 is was sent to it's final home in Westonia. The weather board and tin style of this church was typical of church construction in the goldfields at the time.
TALL TALES AND TRUE
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MAP
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OTHER INFORMATION
ATTRACTIONS
Sandford Rocks, St. Lukes Church, Edna May Tavern (today called Westonia Tavern) and Gold Mine, Elatchbutting Rock, Baladjie Rock, Boodalin Soak, Sandford Rocks, Yanneymooning Reserve, Chidarcooping Reserve, Museum.
BUILDINGS OF NOTE
Tavern, St. Lukes Church, Westonia Tavern 1915.
ELECTORAL ZONES
State : Central Wheatbelt Federal : O'Connor
OTHER INFO.
Postcode : 6423 Local Government : Shire of Westonia
PHOTOS
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