Dalwallinu () is a town in the Wheatbelt region of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

, located 248 km from Perth via the

Great Northern Highway Great Northern Highway is an Australian highway that links Western Australia's capital city Perth with its northernmost port, Wyndham. With a length of almost , it is the longest highway in Australia, with the majority included as part of the ...

Agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

and supporting industries are the town's primary economic activities. The town is the first town on the Wildflower Way, a tourist route that stretches north to Mullewa. The town has an elevation of . At the 2016 census, Dalwallinu had a population of 699. The name of the town comes from the Aboriginal word that means "place to wait a while" or possible "goodlands". The first inhabitants of the area were Aboriginal people who used the area for hunting and gathering. The

Badimaya The Badimaya people (also written Badimia) are an Aboriginal Australian people from the Mid West region of Western Australia. Country Traditional Badimaya country was calculated by Norman Tindale to encompass approximately , and is bordered by ...

people lived in the northern areas of the shire and the Karlamaya peoples inhabited the southern areas. Originally called South Nugadong, the town was officially gazetted in 1914. The first Europeans to arrive were

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

monks who came from

New Norcia New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

to graze their sheep on the pastoral leases that they had taken up. The first

settler A settler is a person who has human migration, migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a ...

s arrived, hoping to develop the lands for

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

, in 1907. The region was surveyed in 1909 and then opened for

selection Selection may refer to: Science * Selection (biology), also called natural selection, selection in evolution ** Sex selection, in genetics ** Mate selection, in mating ** Sexual selection in humans, in human sexuality ** Human mating strategie ...

in 1910 with crops being planted shortly afterward. Two brothers, Albert and Frederick Ellison, built a

well A well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...

on the southern end of the township in 1909. The well acted as a permanent source of water to the settlers. The well, named Billum Billum well, was built from locally occurring timber such as gimlet and

salmon gum ''Eucalyptus salmonophloia'', commonly known as salmon gum, wurak or weerluk or woonert or marrlinja. is a species of small to medium-sized tree that is endemic to Western Australia. It has smooth bark, narrow lance-shaped to curved adult leave ...

. In 1932 the

Wheat Pool of Western Australia Cooperative Wheat Pool of Western Australia, commonly known as the Wheat Pool of Western Australia, is a cooperative of wheat growers in Western Australia. The cooperative was formed in 1922 and one of the inaugural trustees was Charles Walter Harp ...

announced that the town would have two

grain elevators A grain elevator is a facility designed to stockpile or store grain. In the grain trade, the term "grain elevator" also describes a tower containing a bucket elevator or a pneumatic conveyor, which scoops up grain from a lower level and deposi ...

, each fitted with an engine, installed at the railway siding. Dalwallinu is on the railway route that used to be utilised for Northam to Mullewa rail services, such as ''

The Mullewa ''The Mullewa'' was an overnight passenger train operated by the Western Australian Government Railways between Perth and Mullewa in the Mid West Region via the Eastern and Northern lines. History ''The Mullewa'' commenced operating on 30 ...

''. They no longer operate, with the line inoperational between Dalwallinu and Perenjori South.https://www.arcinfra.com/ARCInfrastructure/media/documents/Network%20Specifications/Arc-Infrastructure-Network-Control-Boundaries.pdf

References

External links

Towns in Western Australia Wheatbelt (Western Australia) {{WesternAustralia-geo-stub