Latham is a small town in the
Mid West
The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...
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 ...
. It is named after Latham Rock, a large
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
rock close to the townsite. The rock was named for an early
pastoralist who established a watering place for stock being
droved through the area.
When construction of the railway from
Wongan Hills
Wongan Hills is a range of low flat-topped hills in the Avon Wheatbelt bioregion of Western Australia. It is located at , in the Shire of Wongan–Ballidu.
History
The range was first recorded in 1836 by Surveyor General of Western Australia Jo ...
to
Mullewa was planned in 1913, the Public Works department decided the area would be suitable as a
railway station
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
and a townsite. The railway opened for service in 1915 and the townsite was gazetted in 1917.
The bulk wheat bin was opened in November 1936.
The surrounding areas produce
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 ...
and other
cereal
A cereal is any Poaceae, grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, Cereal germ, germ, and bran. Cereal Grain, grain crops are grown in greater quantit ...
crops. The town is a
receival site for
Cooperative Bulk Handling
The CBH Group (commonly known as CBH, an acronym for Co-operative Bulk Handling), is a grain growers' cooperative that handles, markets and processes grain from the wheatbelt of Western Australia.
History
CBH was formed on 5 April 1933, at a ...
.
Champion wrestler
George Dinnie (1875–1939) was a resident of Latham in the 1920s.
References
External links
{{authority control
Shire of Perenjori
Grain receival points of Western Australia