Eneabba is a town on the

Brand Highway Brand Highway is a main highway linking the northern outskirts of Perth to Geraldton in Western Australia. Together with North West Coastal Highway, it forms part of the Western Australian coastal link to the Northern Territory. The highw ...

north of

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, Western Australia. The area is famous for its spectacular display of wildflowers in the spring. It is also home to the

Iluka Resources Iluka Resources is an Australian-based resources company, specialising in mineral sands exploration, project development, operations and marketing. Iluka is the largest producer of zircon and titanium dioxide-derived rutile and synthetic rutil ...

mineral sands Heavy mineral sands are a class of ore deposit which is an important source of zirconium, titanium, thorium, tungsten, rare-earth elements, the industrial minerals diamond, sapphire, garnet, and occasionally precious metals or gemstones. Heavy m ...

facility. The first European visit to the area was in 1839 by the second disastrous

George Grey Sir George Grey, KCB (14 April 1812 – 19 September 1898) was a British soldier, explorer, colonial administrator and writer. He served in a succession of governing positions: Governor of South Australia, twice Governor of New Zealand, Go ...

expedition along the west coast. Grey and his party were forced to walk through the area after their boats were lost. On 11 April, Grey discovered and named the Arrowsmith River, after John Arrowsmith the English cartographer. The next Europeans in the area were government Assistant Surveyor

Augustus Charles Gregory Sir Augustus Charles Gregory (1 August 1819 – 25 June 1905) was an English-born Australian explorer and surveyor. Between 1846 and 1858 he undertook four major expeditions. He was the first Surveyor-General of Queensland. He was appointed a ...

and

Francis Thomas Gregory Francis Thomas "Frank" Gregory (19 October 1821 – 23 October 1888) was an Australian explorer and politician. Born in England, he emigrated with his family to Australia as a boy. He was the younger brother of the explorer and politician Augu ...

(both attached to the department of the Surveyor-General) and their brother Henry Churchman Gregory, on a public-private funded expedition to search for new agricultural land beyond the settled areas. They camped at Eneabba Springs, east of Eneabba on 14 September 1846, while returning to Perth from the

Irwin River The Irwin River is a river in the Mid West region of Western Australia. It was named on 9 April 1839 by the explorer George Grey, while on his second disastrous exploration expedition along the Western Australian coast, after his friend Major F ...

. In 1870 the first settler, William Horsley Rowland, arrived from Greenough. He took up a 3,000 acre lease at Eneabba Springs and survived by shepherding, trapping horses and pigs and living on wild game. The area around Eneabba (also known as the Eneabba sandplain) was opened up for agricultural purposes in the 1950s for a large group of model farms comprising the Eneabba War Service Land Settlement Project. This in turn initiated the need for a town to be developed. The town was gazetted on 27 January 1961. The name of the town means "ground spring", from the aboriginal name of Eneabba Springs, the site of Rowland's original homestead. The Warradarge Wind Farm is being constructed southeast of Eneabba.

Climate

Eneabba has a Mediterranean climate#Hot-summer mediterranean climate (

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

''Csa'').

References

External links

Shire of Carnamah

* ttp://www.carnamah.com.au/t1.html The Three Springs Database – past residents of Three Springs, Arrino and Eneabba {{authority control Mining towns in Western Australia Towns in Western Australia