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Although pastoral leases are said to have been taken out as early as 1853, the first known settlers in the area were James Byrne and John Williams
who held leases in 1870.
Early farming centered more around fruit production than the more usual wheat and sheep. When the railway arrived in 1891 it crossed
the Moore River over what was at the time, the highest wooden trestle bridge in the state.
Wannamal siding was completed in 1895. Despite the early start it took some years for the population in the area to build up sufficiently for a
townsite to be surveyed but this was finally done in 1908 when the town was officially gazetted.
Four years later in 1912 the town hall was completed and opened by H.B. Lefroy M.L.A. At last meetings would no longer be held in the goods shed.
Wannamal today is a 'blink and you'll miss it' town and as it lies in the back roads and not on a major highway, it is rarely seen by travellers in any
case. Most of those who do pass through do so in spring when the wildflowers in the area are at their most spectacular.
The old school site is now a rest area and not too far up the road is an excellent wildflower reserve at Mogumber. The school operated from 1967 to
1984.
Across the road are the recreation grounds that date from 1905 when a recreation reserve was set aside. The new hall was opened in 1982 and was later
extended to include toilets, kitchen and a meeting room.
A walk trail leads from the hall across the railway and then north past sites where buildings like the post office, fettler's hut, ganger's shed and the original
school, that was built in 1904, once stood. Sadly the buildings are no longer there, just a series of markers to show where they once were.
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