Wongan Hills, Western Australia
| Wongan Hills Western Australia | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 The Wongan Hills Hotel. | |||||||||
| Population | 745 (2006)[1] | ||||||||
| Established | 1911 | ||||||||
| Postcode(s) | 6603 | ||||||||
| Elevation | 286 m (938 ft) | ||||||||
| Location | 182 km (113 mi) NNE of Perth | ||||||||
| LGA(s) | Shire of Wongan-Ballidu | ||||||||
| State electorate(s) | Central Wheatbelt | ||||||||
| Federal division(s) | Durack | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Wongan Hills is a town in the Shire of Wongan-Ballidu, in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia.[2] The town is approximately 182 km north of the State capital Perth, at an altitude of 286 metres.
The town is named for a nearby range of hills that are found to the north-west of the town, also named Wongan Hills, which was first recorded in 1836 by Surveyor General of Western Australia John Septimus Roe. As part of Easter celebrations in 2009, a 1.8-by-1.1-kilometre (1.1 by 0.7 mi) cross was laid out in a bare paddock using 460 half-tonne hay bales with the aid of GPS systems.
The cross was set alight on Good Friday night and was the end of a pilgrimage conducted on Easter Saturday.[3]
History
The area was settled by the 1900s, and in 1911 the town was gazetted and named after the range. "Wongan" is derived from the Indigenous Australian name "wangan-katta", "wanka" and "woongan". "Katta" is known to mean "hill", but the meaning of "wongan" is uncertain. It may be related to "kwongan", an indigenous word for sandplain, or "whispering", in which case "wongan katta" would mean "whispering hills" (katta is a word for hill).[4]
In 1925 an agricultural research station was established about 5 km north of the town which assisted in the diversification and improvements in farm practices through the state. The area is a prosperous agricultural region with activities focused on sheep, grain and pig-farming.[5]
Construction of a grain silo commenced in 1933 as part of the bulk handling scheme that had been introduced by the government and managed by Cooperative Bulk Handling.[6]
In the early 1900s, poet Lilian Wooster Greaves lived with her family at Wongan Hills. Her book of poetry includes a number of prose and poetry items relating to living there at the time of the first world war.[7]
Climate
| Climate data for Wongan Hills | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 47.4 (117.3) |
47.0 (116.6) |
43.5 (110.3) |
39.2 (102.6) |
34.7 (94.5) |
26.0 (78.8) |
25.4 (77.7) |
30.2 (86.4) |
35.2 (95.4) |
39.5 (103.1) |
42.0 (107.6) |
45.0 (113.0) |
47.4 (117.3) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 34.6 (94.3) |
34.0 (93.2) |
30.9 (87.6) |
26.4 (79.5) |
21.6 (70.9) |
18.1 (64.6) |
17.0 (62.6) |
17.9 (64.2) |
20.6 (69.1) |
25.1 (77.2) |
29.0 (84.2) |
32.4 (90.3) |
25.6 (78.1) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 17.8 (64.0) |
18.2 (64.8) |
16.3 (61.3) |
13.4 (56.1) |
10.0 (50.0) |
7.8 (46.0) |
6.6 (43.9) |
6.6 (43.9) |
7.6 (45.7) |
10.0 (50.0) |
13.0 (55.4) |
15.8 (60.4) |
11.9 (53.4) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 9.8 (49.6) |
8.5 (47.3) |
5.5 (41.9) |
2.8 (37.0) |
−0.6 (30.9) |
−0.8 (30.6) |
−0.9 (30.4) |
−0.5 (31.1) |
0.5 (32.9) |
0.5 (32.9) |
3.4 (38.1) |
7.3 (45.1) |
−0.9 (30.4) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 14.2 (0.56) |
15.2 (0.60) |
20.1 (0.79) |
22.2 (0.87) |
52.5 (2.07) |
70.4 (2.77) |
69.1 (2.72) |
51.5 (2.03) |
29.7 (1.17) |
19.9 (0.78) |
12.3 (0.48) |
10.1 (0.40) |
388.0 (15.28) |
| Average precipitation days | 2.0 | 2.3 | 2.8 | 4.9 | 8.8 | 12.4 | 13.3 | 12.1 | 8.5 | 5.9 | 3.4 | 2.0 | 78.4 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 24 | 28 | 31 | 38 | 48 | 56 | 58 | 55 | 47 | 34 | 28 | 26 | 39 |
| Source: [8] | |||||||||||||
References
- ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). "Wongan Hills (L) (Urban Centre/Locality)". 2006 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 2 October 2008.
- ^ "Wongan Hills". Gazetteer of Australia online. Geoscience Australia, Australian Government.
- ^ "Farmers construct huge straw cross for Easter service". 2009. Retrieved 23 April 2009.
- ^ "History of country town names – W". Western Australian Land Information Authority. Archived from the original on 14 March 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2007.
- ^ "Australia's Golden Outback – Wongan Hills". 2006. Retrieved 26 August 2008.
- ^ "Country news". The West Australian. Perth: National Library of Australia. 6 September 1933. p. 6. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
- ^ Greaves, Lilian Wooster (1927), Wongan way, [L.W. Greaves?], retrieved 11 October 2012
- ^ "Climate statistics for Wongan Hills". Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 13 July 2014.