- Ongerup, Western Australia
-
Ongerup
Western Australia
Eldridge Street, Ongerup
OngerupPopulation: 119 (2006 census) [1] Established: 1912 Postcode: 6336 Location: - 410 km (255 mi) SE of Perth
- 150 km (93 mi) NNE of Albany
- 40 km (25 mi) W of Jerramungup
LGA: Shire of Gnowangerup Region: Great Southern State District: Wagin Federal Division: O'Connor Mean max temp Mean min temp Annual rainfall 21.6 °C
71 °F9.7 °C
49 °F387.3 mm
15.2 inCoordinates: 33°57′58″S 118°29′10″E / 33.966°S 118.486°E
Ongerup is a town located 410 km south-east of Perth and 54 km east of Gnowangerup in the Great Southern region of Western Australia.
Contents
History
The name Ongerup means Place of the male kangaroo in the local Noongar language.
The area around Ongerup was first explored by Surveyor General John Septimus Roe who passed through in 1848. In the 1870s the Moir family moved to the area and began grazing sheep along the Warperup Creek. In 1910 the land was surveyed into 1,000-acre (4 km2) blocks priced at 10 shillings per acre before the townsite was gazetted in 1912.[2]
A 94 km branch line to Ongerup from Tambellup on the Great Southern Railway main line between Perth and Albany was opened on 6 January 1913 to serve the growing agriculture industry and closed on 13 October 1957.[3] A timetable from 1937 shows 2 trains per week leaving Ongerup on Tuesdays at 06:55 and Fridays at 04:00. Lengthy connections of around 12 hours were available at Katanning for Perth, arriving approximately 30 hours after leaving Ongerup.[4]. In 1918 a barracks was constructed on Eldridge Street for railway workers based in Ongerup. The building survived the closure of the railway and now houses the Ongerup / Needilup District Museum that was opened in 1978.
A local newspaper, The Gnowangerup Star and Tambellup-Ongerup Gazette, was launched on 21 August 1915 with the final edition being printed in 2003.[5]
The first Ongerup Public Hall was built in 1927 but was replaced by the current building in 1953.
During the Great Depression of the 1930s, kangaroo hunters and mallee bark strippers came to the area. The bark was sent to Germany for use in tanning.[6][7]
The town was flooded when 119.4mm of rain, almost a third of the annual average, fell in one day on the 17th of February 1955.[8]
In June 1983 the Ongerup Cemetery received its first burial.[9]
In 1983 the Ongerup Shears event was held for the first time. This was a shearing competition that was held on the Queen's Birthday long weekend with international and national shearers competing in the run up to the Perth Royal Show. The event was discontinued in the 1990s.
On 13 September 1986, two children were killed by a boiler explosion at the Ongerup sports oval.[10]
Ongerup today
The 2006 census shows a population of 119 people living in Ongerup.[1] The town is home to a pub, general store, tyre service, primary school, kindergarten, telecentre,[11] caravan park, ambulance service, 18-hole golf course, sports oval and pavilion and roadhouse.
There was a police station but the closure of it was announced in July 2007 and executed in 2010.[12]
Ongerup War Memorial
A war memorial commemorates the 63 Ongerup lives lost in World War I, World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.[13]
At the sports oval Australian Rules football, hockey and netball are played in winter and cricket, tennis and basketball are played in summer.
Mark L. Williams, current AFL player with Hawthorn played for Ongerup Football Club as a junior player.
Economy
The town exists to service the local agricultural community. Surrounding farms mainly produce wheat, barley, canola and wool, while lesser quantities of lupins, oats, alfalfa and other crops are also grown. Beef cattle, fat lambs, and pigs are sideline industries.
Grain silos belonging to Cooperative Bulk Handling are located at Ongerup and during harvest time these silos store grain from surrounding farms before it is transported to Albany by road for export.
Attractions
The town is home to the Malleefowl Preservation Group and in 2007 the Yongergnow Australian Malleefowl Centre was opened.[14]
The Ongerup Wildflower Show is held in September and October each year. The Ongerup district is known to be home to over 1,300 species of wildflowers.[15]
Ongerup is a stop on the Transwa bus service between Perth and Esperance.[16]
References
- ^ a b Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). "Ongerup (State Suburb)". 2006 Census QuickStats. http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/ABSNavigation/prenav/LocationSearch?collection=Census&period=2006&areacode=SSC55161&producttype=QuickStats&breadcrumb=PL&action=401. Retrieved 18 July 2007.
- ^ Western Australian Land Information Authority. "History of country town names". http://www.landgate.wa.gov.au/corporate.nsf/web/History+of+country+town+names. Retrieved 2007-07-17.
- ^ The Ongerup Branch Milne, Rod Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, May, 2002 pp163-170
- ^ Australian Association of Timetable Collectors - June 2000 newsletter www.aattc.org.
- ^ Australian Newspaper History Group, newsletter October 2003
- ^ Shire of Gnowangerup (6 June 2006). "Our Towns and History". http://www.gnowangerup.wa.gov.au/towns_history. Retrieved 17 July 2007.
- ^ Fairfax Digital (8 February 2004). "Travel - Ongerup". The Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/news/western-australia/ongerup/2005/02/17/1108500208618.html. Retrieved 17 July 2007.
- ^ www.eldersweather.com.au
- ^ www.ozburials.com/cemswa
- ^ www.sro.wa.gov.au Inquest into explosion at Ongerup Sporting Complex
- ^ Western Australian Telecentre Network (2003). "Complete List of Telecentre Details". http://www.telecentres.wa.gov.au/telecentres/telecentrelist.asp. Retrieved 17 July 2007.
- ^ "Councils join forces to fight police station closures". ABC Great Southern. 9 July 2007. Archived from the original on 21 September 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070921212709/http://www.abc.net.au/greatsouthern/stories/s1973280.htm. Retrieved 17 July 2007.
- ^ Department of Premier and Cabinet (WA) (26 April 2007). "Ongerup Roll of Honour". http://www.anzac.dpc.wa.gov.au/index.cfm?event=memorialItem&mem=333. Retrieved 17 July 2007.
- ^ "The Malleefowl Preservation Group". 9 July 2007. http://www.malleefowl.com.au/. Retrieved 2007-07-17.
"Yongergnow Australian Malleefowl Centre". 10 July 2007. http://www.yongergnow.com.au. Retrieved 2007-07-17. - ^ The Wildflower Society of Western Australia (Inc.). "Wildflower displays in rural Western Australia". http://members.ozemail.com.au/~wildflowers/shows.htm. Retrieved 2007-07-17.
- ^ GE1 timetable (1 November 2006). Retrieved on 17 July 2007.
Towns in the Great Southern region of Western Australia Amelup · Badgebup · Borden · Bornholm · Boscabel · Bow Bridge · Boxwood Hill · Bremer Bay · Broomehill · Cartmeticup · Chinocup · Cranbrook · Denmark · Elleker · Frankland · Gairdner · Gnowangerup · Jerramungup · Jingalup · Kalgan · Katanning · Kendenup · King River · Kojonup · Kwobrup · Little Grove · Lower King · Manypeaks · Mount Barker · Muradup · Narrikup · Needilup · Nyabing · Ocean Beach · Ongerup · Pingrup · Porongurup · Redmond · Tambellup · Tenterden · Torbay · Tunney · Wellstead · Woodanilling
Categories:- Towns in Western Australia
- Great Southern (Western Australia)
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
