Carnamah, Western Australia

Infobox Australian Place | type = town
name = Carnamah
state = wa


caption =
lga = Shire of Carnamah
postcode = 6517
est = 1913
pop = 496 (2006 Census)Census 2006 AUS|id=SSC53456|name=Carnamah (State Suburb)|quick=on|accessdate=2008-09-20]
elevation= 273
maxtemp =
mintemp =
rainfall =
stategov = Moore
fedgov = O'Connor
dist1 = 307
dir1 = North
location1= Perth
dist2 = 21
dir2 = South East
location2= Three Springs
dist3 = 54
dir3 = South
location3= Morawacoord|-29.687|115.892|type:city(496)_region:AU-WA_scale:50000|format=dms|display=title

Carnamah is a town in the Mid West region of Western Australia, about convert|307|km|mi|0 north of Perth along the Midlands Road. According to 2006 census, the population of the town is approximately 496.

The town was gazetted in 1913, and is named after "Carnamah", the name of a pastoral property established by Duncan Macpherson in this location in the late 1860s. A telegraph station was established here in 1873, and is referred to in 1876 by the famous explorer Ernest Giles. Giles spells it "Cornamah" in his book, but "Carnamah" on his map. Macpherson's property "Carnamah" derives its name from Carnamah Spring. The name is probably Aboriginal of unknown meaning, or possibly is a Gaelic word meaning "cairn of the cattle" or "cattle rocks". [LandInfo WA|c|C|2007-06-08]

The Midland Railway line was constructed through the area in 1894 and a siding was built close to the Macpherson's homestead. This in turn lead to further settlement of the area. The Carnamah Progress Association was formed in 1912 and the Carnamah State School was established and in 1913 the townsite was declared. [cite web|url=http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~auschs/history.html|title=Rootsweb - The Early History of Carnamah
year=2005|accessdate=2008-09-26]

References

External links

* [http://www.carnamah.wa.gov.au Shire of Carnamah]
* [http://www.rootsweb.com/~auschs Carnamah Historical Society]
* [http://www.rootsweb.com/~auschs/page2.html Winchester Cemetery, Carnamah]
* [http://www.rootsweb.com/~auschs/ca1.html Database of Carnamah's Past Residents]