Pemberton is a town in the

South West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

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 ...

, named after original settler Pemberton Walcott.

History

The region was originally occupied by the Bibbulmun people who knew the area as Wandergarup, which in their language meant 'plenty of water'. Following an expedition to the area in 1861 by Edward Reveley Brockman, his brother-in-law Gerald de Courcy Lefroy and his uncle Pemberton Walcott, in 1862 Brockman established Warren House homestead and station on the

Warren River The Warren River is a tidal extension of the Palmer River in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. It flows approximately 6.5 km (4 mi). There are no dams along the river's length. Course The river begins where the Palmer River widens just o ...

; Walcott, after whom the town would be named, established ''Karri Dale'' farm on the northern outskirts of the later townsite; and Lefroy established a farm and flour mill on Lefroy Brook (the current site of the 100 Year Forest). Walcott remained until at least 1867. By 1868 he was at Dwalganup Station near Boyup Brook, and in 1872 ''Karri Dale'' was for sale, marketed as a "four-roomed brick cottage, stockyards, cattle shed, good garden - stocked with fruit trees and permanent running water". In 1913, the new government-owned State Saw Mills began construction of twin sawmills, No 2 and No 3, at the location then known as ''Big Brook'', to supply half a million railway sleepers for the

Trans-Australian Railway The Trans-Australian Railway, opened in 1917, runs from Port Augusta in South Australia to Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, crossing the Nullarbor Plain in the process. As the only rail freight corridor between Western Australia and the easter ...

. The mill site was in a valley to ensure the mills had a regular supply of water and because it was easier to roll logs down hill to the mills. Big Brook became a thriving private mill town, with a hall, store, staff accommodation, mill workers' cottages, and single men's huts, and two boarding houses. A more distinctive name was soon sought. The name Walcott was suggested but was rejected by the Post Office due to conflict with

Port Walcott Port Walcott, formerly known as Tien Tsin Harbour, is a large open water harbour located on the northwest coast of Western Australia, located near the town of Point Samson. History Before the port was established, the land was inhabited by th ...

, also named after Walcott. William Locke Brockman, local farmer and son of early settler Edward Reveley Brockman, suggested Pemberton. The mill town was well established but by 1921 there was community agitation for a government townsite to be declared. Community pressure resulted in lots being surveyed in 1925 and the Pemberton townsite was gazetted in October 1925. During the 1920s the area was a focus of the

Group Settlement Scheme The Group Settlement Scheme was an assisted migration scheme which operated in Western Australia from the early 1920s. It was engineered by Premier of Western Australia, Premier James Mitchell (Australian politician), James Mitchell and followe ...

and following the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the War Service Land Settlement Scheme, but with only moderate success.

Modern day

During the 1980s, Pemberton began to grow as a tourist town and tourism, particularly domestic, continues to play a key role. Log sawmilling was still the most active industry in 2005, occupying 12.8% of the workforce, despite the state government drastically reducing old growth logging in 2003. Rather than shut down, the mill switched to plantation

Tasmanian blue gum ''Eucalyptus globulus'' subsp. ''globulus'', commonly known as the Tasmanian blue gum, southern blue gum, or blue gum, is a subspecies of tree that is Endemism, endemic to southeastern Australia. It has mostly smooth bark with some persistent sl ...

and

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...

in addition to

karri ''Eucalyptus diversicolor'', commonly known as karri, is a species of flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae and is Endemism, endemic to the Southwest Australia, south-west of Western Australia. It is a tall tree with smooth light grey to cre ...

Viticulture Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ran ...

is now widely established with many investment schemes buying up large areas of pastureland and converting to vineyards.

Tourism

The nearby Gloucester National Park contains three climbable karri trees, each more than tall. The most famous is the

Gloucester Tree The Gloucester Tree is a giant karri tree in the Gloucester National Park of Western Australia. At 58 metres in height, it is the world's second tallest fire-lookout tree (second only to the nearby Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree), and visitors ...

, but there are also the

Diamond Tree The Diamond Tree is a giant karri tree located 10 km south of Manjimup, Western Australia on the South Western Highway. A wooden viewing platform built in 1939 is located 49 metres up, and was the oldest wooden platform fire look-out in ...

and the

Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree The Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree, a tall karri tree, was pegged for climbing to celebrate Australia's bicentenary in 1988. It is in Warren National Park in southwestern Australia. Although it has been used as a fire lookout, it is used mainly ...

, the tallest of the three at around 71 metres. The trees have metal rungs that allow visitors to climb them and reach the constructed lookout at the top. Pemberton hotel

Other tourist attractions include the

Pemberton Tramway Company Pemberton Tramway Company operates as a tourist railway in Pemberton in Western Australia. The company controls the southern section of the former Northcliffe Branch railway, from Lyall to Northcliffe. Currently, trams run south from the ol ...

, Yeagarup Dunes and the

Bibbulmun Track The Bibbulmun Track is a long-distance walk trail in Western Australia. It runs from Kalamunda in the east of Perth to Albany, and is long. It is managed by government agencies, and has a foundation. It traverses the Darling Range and has i ...

. Tours include river cruises, hiking, canoeing and

four-wheel drive Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case ...

tours of the national parks. The three-day Southern Forests Festival (formerly the Pemberton Autumn Festival/Marron & Wine Festival) is held in May. Pemberton is recognised as one of the premier cool-climate wine regions in Australia, and hosts many wineries in the region. Pemberton is surrounded by karri forest with five national parks within 20 minutes' drive and has plenty of rivers, streams and dams for recreation. The Karri Forest Explorer Drive has been developed by the Department of Environment and Conservation and links the tourism attractions together along sealed and unsealed roads. The beautiful forest attractions include Big Brook Dam in the Pemberton State Forest 6 km north on the

. Bird hides and jetties, BBQ facilities and sandy beach allow visitors to enjoy this main attraction. The 4 km sealed walk trail around the lake is the perfect venue to take in the tall Karri Forests in the surrounds. Beedelup Falls in the

Beedelup National Park Greater Beedelup National Park is a national park in Western Australia, 277 km south of Perth. It is situated on the Vasse Highway some 10 km west of Pemberton. The park is especially lush and damp due to an abundance of water. Gazet ...

are 30 km north along The Bibbulmun Track. Visitors can explore via a suspension bridge, walk trails and visitor information. The Falls are the break between the

Darling Scarp 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 ...

and the Scott River Plain and the tourist drive is sealed with caravan parking. The Yeagarup Dunes in the

D'Entrecasteaux National Park D'Entrecasteaux National Park is a national park in Western Australia, south of Perth. The park is named after the French Admiral Bruni D'Entrecasteaux who was the first European to sight the area and name Point D'Entrecasteaux in 1792. The pa ...

are the largest land-locked inland dunes in the southern hemisphere. They are moving at four metres a year towards the Yeagarup Lake. Local tours are available to experience these remote locations only accessible only by 4WD. Lake Jasper in the D’Entrecasteaux national park is the largest natural freshwater lake in Western Australia and covers an area of about 450 hectares. It is unique because it has no in or out tributaries and is 10 meters deep and accessible only by 4WD. A little further west is Black Point, in the far northwestern part of the D’Entrecasteaux National Park between Augusta and Windy Harbour. The black

Basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

columns were formed about 135 million years ago. Local tours are available. The Cascades are a series of low falls in the Lefroy brook. The road has been sealed and is accessible from the historic Tram, which departs from Pemberton twice daily.

Climate

Pemberton has a

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

, with warm, dry summers and cool, rainy winters.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* {{authority control Bushfire affected towns in Western Australia Forestry in Australia