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Statistics
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Km from Perth |
123 |
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Population |
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Rainfall |
468mm(90) |
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Max Temp |
C |
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Min Temp |
C |
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Autogas |
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Telecentre |
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Caravan Parks
Bolgart
08 9627 5220
Services
Attractions
Unknown
Buildings of note
Unknown
Calendar of events
Unknown
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Description
Bolgart claims the first settled farm in the district and
features the historic Bolgart Hotel built in 1916. Settlement dates from the
1840s when J. Scully took up land. The town site was
gazetted in 1909.
The town is built near a spring (that
G. F. Moore
discovered in 1836) and
derives it's name from the Aboriginal word 'bullgert', meaning magic swamp
place. (Other sources quote the less romantic 'place of water' and the even
worse 'magic bog'.) Moore wrote
that the area was "a
tract of several acres of rich ground covered with active springs, the grass
rich and green".
The shire caravan park (although small) is one of the cheapest you will find and
is a good place for a stop over.
Tall tales & true: Light fingered Felix.
In the late 1870s there was a series of petty thefts in the area. Mostly the
items were fruit, poultry and meat but when ‘Peg Leg’ Davis found his hay was
being stolen, he hid in the stack one night with a pitchfork to catch the thief.
‘Peg Leg’ fell asleep but was woken when the thief made contact with the prongs
of his pitch fork. Although the thief was gone by the time Davis crawled out of
the stack, a certain Felix Murphy was found to have some suspicious wounds on his
hands the next day.
As nothing came of it and old habits die hard, Felix went back to stealing and
was later accused of stealing sheep – a much more serious offence. He managed to
get acquitted but after moving to Southern Cross he was caught stealing
again; this time it was supplies
that he was carting from the railway depot to various merchants. Despite being
given a character reference by no lesser man than
John Forrest,
Felix
ended up in prison for 12 months.
(Please help us get more information on this town)
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