Mornington, also known as Mornington Mills, is the site of former timber
saw mill
A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ( dimens ...
s and a community on the
Darling Range
The Darling Scarp, also referred to as the Darling Range or Darling Ranges, is a low escarpment running north–south to the east of the Swan Coastal Plain and Perth, Western Australia. The escarpment extends generally north of Bindoon, to th ...
in
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 was part of the operations of
Millars Karri and Jarrah Forests Limited
Millars' Karri and Jarrah Company (1902) Limited, commonly known as Millars, was a Western Australian focused timber and timber railway company.
Millars' Karri and Jarrah Forests Limited was a public company incorporated in London in July 1897 w ...
. At the
2021 census, the area had a population of 42.
The
Millars timber railway system covered an extensive area east of Mornington.
It is east of the
South Western Highway
South Western Highway is a highway in the South West region of Western Australia connecting Perth's southeast with Walpole. It is a part of the Highway 1 network for most of its length. It is about long.
Route description
Perth to Bunbury
...
and
South Western railway line, south of
Wokalup and north of
Benger.
It was fully operational as a company town by 1899 and, at its peak, it contained a school, two churches, a hall, and a company store. On 6 November 1920, the ''Jubilee'' locomotive carrying workers and timber from Mornington Mills to Wokelup derailed, killing nine people and injuring two. The town closed on 11 August 1961, when its workers moved to
Yarloop.
The site of the mill was subsequently a
Police Citizens Youth Club
Police & Community Youth Clubs (PCYC) or Police and Community Youth Clubs are a network of Australian non-profit, community organisations, founded in New South Wales. In some states such as NSW, they are constituted as an Incorporated Association. ...
camp, Camp Mornington, which closed in 2020 due to financial pressures relating to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
.
The remains of the community, railway line and the former saw mills have been regularly researched and written about.
See also
*
Timber railway lines of Western Australia
The network of railway lines in Western Australia associated with the timber and firewood industries is as old as the mainline railway system of the former Western Australian Government Railways system.
Timber railways
There is a range of termi ...
Notes
{{WA Timber industry
Timber towns in Western Australia