MERREDIN, WESTERN AUSTRALIA

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A major town and regional centre for the surrounding central agricultural district. It is promoted as the Garden Town of the Wheatbelt.
Location: 260 km east of Perth on Great Eastern Highway, and a little south of the original road to the eastern goldfields.
Origin of name: of Aboriginal origin, meaning "the place of merritt's", a locally abundant tree, the trunks of which were used for making spears. The name was first recorded in 1889 for Merredin Rock. In 1906 the name Merredin was spelt 3 ways - Merredin for the nearby state forest, Merredin for the railway station and Merredin for the townsite. It was decided to adopt the railway spelling for all names, and all plans were corrected.
Brief history: when the Yilgarn goldfields around Southern Cross was declared in 1888, the road to the goldfields passed just to the north of "Merredin Rock". A well at the rock made it an important stopping place for prospectors on the way to the goldfields. In 1891, the townsite of Merredin was gazetted. None of the lots ever sold, although a hotel was built just to the south of them. In 1895 the railway to Southern Cross was opened, and a station named Merredin was established a short distance south west of the original townsite. In 1906 the area around the railway station was added to the townsite of Merredin, and lots made available for sale.
Natural features: Merredin Peak; Lake Chandler; Burraguttin Rocks; Juterin Rock; Wooliancubbing Spring
Built features: Post Office (1913); Town Hall (1925); COBB Grain Transfer Terminal (the largest horizontal storage facility in the southern hemisphere - 220,000 tonnes); Totadjin Dam (16 km south west)
Heritage features: Railway Water Tower (1893); Railway Museum; Pumping Station No. 4 Goldfields Water Scheme (3 km west)