WOODANILLING

Captain Bannister was probably the first European to pass through this area and he was followed by J.S. Roe and then by Alfred Hillman. Governor Stirling – who was always on the lookout for land to fill up the enormous grant of 100,000 acres he had been given – came through the area to look at it for himself. He was followed by Henry Maxwell Lefroy and Henry Lander and although these exploration all took place before 1843, is was a long time before the first settlers arrived.

Elijah Quartermaine grazed sheep in the area from around 1850 and in 1852 Edward Hamersley took up a pastoral lease on the Bedford River but it was sandal wood that first drew people to the area.

Originally known as Yarabin the townsite was surveyed and gazetted in 1892 as Woodanilling. The name originates from a spring in Boyerine Creek about a kilometre south of the town.

Originally nothing more than a railway siding, the first inhabitant of the town was a railway ganger called Harry Stevens. There was no station master to start with and mail was simply dropped by the tracks for anyone who was passing to sort out.

Mrs. Stevens voluntarily took on the job of looking after and sorting the mail and eventually her services were officially recognised and she was awarded a wage.

The towns first hotel was built in 1900 (the hotel you see today was built in 1908) and a Road Board established in 1906. By about this time there were a number of buildings in town including a Blacksmith, Wheelwright, 5 General Stores, Post Office, Banks, Hotel, Hospital, School, Bakery, Church, Barbers, Boarding House, Saddlery Shop, Railway Station, and the first trotting track outside the Perth Metro area.

One of the oldest buildings in town (in fact in the whole area) is the general store. It was built in 1880 and as it is the only one still operating in town, it outlasted the 4 other competitors that once supplied good to some 800 townspeople.

In April 1920 there was a mini-gold rush when someone claimed to have found a nugget. When no other gold was found everything settled down again and the fact that the original ‘strike’ was made on April 1st may have had some significance.

Services:

Shire Council (08) 9823 1506

Attractions:

Queerearrup Lake, Martup Pool, Heritage Trail, King Rock, Wingedyne nature reserve, Marracoonda church, Kenmore Hall.