TAMMIN

HEMA Map reference 74/C5

31° 38' 31" S 117° 29' 16" E

Statistics

Caravan Parks

None

Services

Attractions

Hunts Well, Yorkrakine Rock, Charles Gardner Reserve.

Buildings of note

Post office, Road Board office.

Calendar of events

November: Tammin art prize.

Town hall

Description

Yet another of the many wheat belt towns, Tammin is named after the tammar wallaby (now extinct on the mainland) which was the first Australian marsupial sighted by European explorers.

Another first are the large concrete wheat silos in the town, the first of their kind in Australia.

Exploration started with Charles Cooke Hunt in 1864. Hunt seems to have travelled far and wide for John Forrest is quoted to have said of him; "Will I ever find a place where this man has not been before me."

In 1864, as he passed through the area, Hunt had his men construct a well. His diary entry for 4 March records:

'During the early part of the day the working party engaged sinking well - having made a hole about 10' long by 7' broad and 6' deep - by noon we obtained a plentiful supply of water for travelling purposes.'

Hunt sank many such wells through out the wheat belt and this was one of the contributing factors in opening the area up for settlement.

The first settler in the area was John Packham who arrived in 1893 (another source says 1881 but 1893 appears to be the officially accepted date). Ten years later the goldfields water pipeline arrived and this helped to guarantee the towns survival. The town site was gazetted in 1899.

A military training ground was established and troops inspected by General Lord Kitchener in 1910. Although the lease was cancelled in 1921 it continued to be called Kitchener’s Field.

In 1928 an airfield was established close to town and it played host to some very famous pilots including Charles Kingsford Smith (1928), Major H deHaviland, and H.C. Miller during the West Australian Centennial Air Race of 1929 and Amy Johnson in 1930. The air race was the longest in the world at the time and of 17 starters an amazing 15 completed the race.
 

Originally part of the Meckering district, the Tammin Road Board became independent in 1948.

The Meckering earthquake in 1968 had its effects on Tammin with the local hotel and several other buildings being so badly damaged that they had to be demolished.

By 1987 the town’s population was in decline and businesses were closing in the main street. The remaining residents got together to for a co-operative and set about re-vitalising the town.

This was largely successful and by 1990 the population had stabilised about the 500 mark and a number of businesses had re-opened.