Watheroo is a small town in the
Wheatbelt 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 ...
. There are 137 residents, according to the .
History
Land in the area was settled by James Oliver in 1851, the area was surveyed in 1871 and the name Watheroo was charted for the first time. Watheroo is a thriving farming Wheatbelt town, farming livestock and grain. The town was an original station on the
Midland Railway Company railway line to Walkaway. The townsite was gazetted in 1907.
Railway
Following flooding along the
Moore River
Moore River is a river in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia.
Geography
The headwaters of the Moore River lie in the Perenjori, Carnamah and Dalwallinu Shires. The river then drains southwards through Moora, flows westerly before j ...
in 1907, the railway lines between Watheroo and
Moora were closed for some time when parts of the track were washed away. Rail services were again affected in 1917 when of rain fell in three hours causing more flooding, washways and the railyard in town to be submerged.
Etymology
The name is
Indigenous Australian
Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...
in origin and was the name of a nearby
spring
Spring(s) may refer to:
Common uses
* Spring (season)
Spring, also known as springtime, is one of the four temperate seasons, succeeding winter and preceding summer. There are various technical definitions of spring, but local usage of ...
. The word Watheroo is derived from the word ''wardo'' which means little bird or more specifically the
willy wagtail or from the word ''wardoro'' which means water.
Climate
References
External links
{{authority control
Towns in Western Australia
Wheatbelt (Western Australia)
Grain receival points of Western Australia