Old Police Station museum,
Railway Station, Flour Mill, Brookton Lookout, Lonley Grave, Jack Hansen
Ruins via Ashfield Road,
Boyagin RockYenyenning LakesLions Park, Memorial Park, Playground at the
Sports ground, Aboriginal Reserve, Boyagarra Pool, Kulyalling and Weam
reserve, Heritage Trail, Various old school sites (Map available from Old
Police Station Museum), Lonely Grave, Aldersyde, County Peak,
Bally Bally Hall.
Calendar of events
January: (bi-ennial) Motor show. Easter: King of the
hill. November: Folk festival. December: Street party.
Bedford Hotel
Description
The townsite
of Brookton is situated 138km east/south-east of Perth on the Brookton
Highway. The Shire of Brookton covers an area of 1,626 square kilometres and also includes
the localities of Aldersyde and Kweda. The population of the Shire recorded
at the 1999 census was 1015, of which approximately 650 live in the townsite
of Brookton.
Being less than 100km from the Perth metropolitan area (as opposed to the
G.P.O.), Brookton is a one hour drive from Karragullen and
residents enjoy many lifestyle benefits of outer metropolitan country living
while retaining many creature comforts such as five commercial television
stations and digital mobile telephone coverage. The Shire of Brookton
borders the local authorities of Wandering,
Beverley, Quairading,
Corrigin
and Pingelly.
The Brookton district is considered the Gateway to the Central South and is
renowned for local events such as the Old Time Motor Show
( held bi-annually),
the King of the Hill off-road racing and a magnificent Wildflower display.
Tourist attractions include the Old Railway Station and Police Museum
located in Robinson Road, the Jack Hansen Ruins at Nine Acre Rock, a lookout
overlooking the town, Heritage Trail, Boyagin rock reserve and the
Yenyenning Lakes.
The area was first settled in 1846 by John Seabrook and the town was founded
in 1884. The name was originally Seabrook but the railway station was called
Brookton. After some negotiation and changes to other stations the town
eventually was re-named Brookton to bring it in to line with the station
name. (The Aboriginal name for the area was Kalkarni.) The town was gazetted
in 1899.
The first Brookton Road Board meeting was conducted on the 10 September
1906, after Mr Samuel Williams broke away from the Beverley Road Board.
During it's early development the area around the town was heavily timbered
with white gums, she-oak and scrub. This was rapidly removed by burning and
cutting. In the process the habitat of emus and wild turkeys was destroyed.
Essential services that city people enjoy like scheme water are often found
wanting in the bush and it wasn’t until December 1958 that scheme water came
to Brookton through a pipe from Wellington Dam near Collie. Before that, the
local dam almost dried up each summer and pipes were often clogged with
silt. In the worst times people were rationed to just 23 litres of water
each per day.
The electricity supply in Brookton was another ‘bone of contention’ and in
the early 1940s supply was usually only available between 4:30pm and 10pm.
It took until 1948 for the town to get a 24 hour supply.
In 1999, the townsite of Brookton celebrated the Centenary of gazettal. To
commemorate this occasion, a written history of Brookton has been released
which details the past 100 years of the town. Copies of this book ($27.50 +
postage) are available by contacting the Shire of Brookton Administration
Centre on (08) 9642 1106.
A trip along the Brookton Highway from Perth is a treat, especially in
spring. Brookton is another typical small country town which has a number of
well preserved historical buildings. It is surprisingly small considering it
is at the intersection of two major roads, retains a
nice relaxed life style and is a lot more peaceful than York and
Northam to
the north.
Pioneering tale.
The first school teacher of the Brookton school (Thomas O’Laughlan) was
provided a tent to live in by the education board when he was unable to find
a house in town.
Just two weeks after school opened there was a rainstorm that forced Thomas
to move his bedding into the school building.
As he didn’t have to rent accommodation the education board withdrew his
residence allowance – living in a tent it considered was ‘appropriate
accommodation.’
After almost three years in the tent Thomas wrote to the board:
‘I hope not to be compelled to spend the third winter in a tent, as my
health was so much affected, last winter, that I was unable to perform my
duties as thoroughly as I otherwise would.’
Poor Thomas was refused his request and in return asked that he be provided
with a new tent as the old one was no longer habitable. Finally the
education board acted and Thomas got his house. He went on to serve the
Brookton community for 25 years.
(Sections of text supplied by the Town of Brookton.)
