Narrogin is a small town in Western Australia approximately 180 km south east of Perth, Western Australia on the Great Southern Highway. Nearby towns include Wagin and Collie.

In the age of steam engines, Narrogin was one of the largest railway operation hubs in the southern part of Western Australia.

History

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. Its emergence as a regional centre for the Central South region has been due to the Great Southern Railway Line.

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 1970's when competition from road transport saw a reduction in the railways workforce from some 280 people to less than a dozen in 1995.

 

Photo credit: Transport (WA Govt)

 

Photo credit: Transport (WA Govt) Runway 36 early final

 

Photo credit: Narrogin Gliding Club Note: Runway 10/28 as shown mid-left to top right is now a bitumen surface!

Images and information placed above are from
http://www.flightclub.com.au/wa-airstrips/narrogin/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narrogin
We thank them for the data!

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