Tammin is a town in the central agricultural 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 ...

, east 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 ...

and midway between the towns of Cunderdin and Kellerberrin on the

Great Eastern Highway Great Eastern Highway is a road that links the Western Australian capital of Perth with the city of Kalgoorlie. A key route for road vehicles accessing the eastern Wheatbelt and the Goldfields, it is the western portion of the main road link ...

. 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 ...

. It also serves as a stop on the ''

Prospector Prospector may refer to: Space exploration * Prospector (spacecraft), a planned lunar probe, canceled in 1962 * '' Lunar Prospector'', a NASA spacecraft Trains * Prospector (train), a passenger train operated by the Denver & Rio Grande Western ...

'' and ''

MerredinLink The ''MerredinLink'' is a rural passenger train service in Western Australia operated by Transwa between Perth and Merredin. History The ''MerredinLink'' was introduced in June 2004 when the ''AvonLink'' from Perth was extended from Northam ...

'' rural train services.

History

The first European to settle in the area was John Packham in 1893. The

railway 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 ...

Southern Cross Crux () is a constellation of the southern sky that is centred on four bright stars in a cross-shaped asterism commonly known as the Southern Cross. It lies on the southern end of the Milky Way's visible band. The name ''Crux'' is Latin for ...

was constructed through the area in 1894–95, and Tammin was one of the original stations when the line opened in 1895. As the surrounding area developed for

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 ...

, there was sufficient demand for land in the area for the government to declare a townsite, and Tammin townsite was gazetted in 1899. Tammin is an Aboriginal name derived from the nearby Tammin Rock, a name first recorded by the explorer

Charles Cooke Hunt Charles Cooke Hunt (1833 – 1 March 1868, Geraldton) was an English explorer who led four expeditions into the interior of Western Australia between 1864 and 1866. Hunt was born in Sussex to John Hunt and Mary Ann (''née'' Cooke) and baptised ...

in 1864. The rock possibly derives its name from the "Tammar", the Aboriginal name of the "black gloved

wallaby A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized Macropodidae, macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same Taxonomy (biology), taxon ...

", which was once found in this area. Another source records it as possibly meaning "a grandmother or a grandfather". The local Agricultural Hall was opened in 1911 by the Minister of Agriculture. 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.

Rail services

Transwa Transwa is Western Australia's regional public transport provider, linking 240 destinations, from Kalbarri in the north to Augusta in the south west to Esperance in the south east. The Transwa system provides transport to the major regional ...

's ''

'' and ''

'' services stop at Tammin, at least one service each day.

References

* {{authority control Towns in Western Australia Wheatbelt (Western Australia) Grain receival points of Western Australia