PERENJORI

HEMA Map reference 76/G5

29° 26' 39" S 116° 17' 14" E

Statistics

Caravan Parks

Accommodation

Services

Attractions

Fossicking, wildflowers, salt lakes, nearby ghost towns, Church of St Joseph, Heritage trail, Caron rail trail, Rothsay heritage trail, Lake Monger.

Buildings of note

Church of St Joseph, Hotel.

Calendar of events

September: Agricultural show.

Description

The area was explored by John Forrest in 1869 but remained untouched until gold was discovered by George Woodley at Rothsay in 1894. Rothsay is about half way between Paynes Find and Perenjori and today is just a ghost town.

By 1897 Rothsay was a small settlement around the mine and at its peak it reached a population of around 500 but the mine closed down in 1902. Claude de Bernales reopened the mine in 1932 but it failed to deliver and was abandoned until 1987 when Metana Minerals had another go but again the mine failed after about 5 years. The area is thought to have produced in excess of 90,000 ounces of gold during the mining years.

Matt and Tom Farrell started farming in the area in 1906 but it took a long time for the town site of Perenjori to be developed.

Located between the areas considered farm country and station country. Mining is also an increasing activity in the area. It started life as a railway siding on the Wongan Hills – Mullewa line and was gazetted as a town site in 1916. Small schools were first established in outlying areas in 1912 and the town's first store established in 1922. The town hall was constructed from 1924-5 and this was followed by a hotel in 1927.

Originally part of the Irwin Road Board, in 1916 the Morawa-Perenjori Road Board was formed. In 1928 the Perenjori Road Board split from the Morawa Road Board and became a separate entity. In 1931 a hospital was constructed.

The name comes from an Aboriginal word perangary which means waterhole. (One source quotes the name ‘Peranj-jiddee’ which refers to bushes that surrounded a nearby waterhole.) This is yet another town where the railway station sign was incorrectly written and resulted in the name of the town being changed.

As with many wheat belt towns Perenjori developed around a railway siding after the railway came through in 1915.

As of November 2007 the road north of Perenjori all the way to Mullewa is still just single lane bitumen.

Perenjori is part of the Monsignor John Hawes Heritage trail that includes the towns of: Perenjori, Morawa, Mullewa, Geraldton, Northampton, Yalgoo, Carnamah, Nanson and Bluff Point.

Crying Room

St. Pauls church was built in 1960 incorporating a crying room. The room had a double glazed window and a loudspeaker so that mothers with crying infants would not miss the service but would not disturb other parishioners.