Allanson is a town on the banks of the

Collie River The Collie River is a river in the South West region of Western Australia. The Collie River was named by Lieutenant Governor Stirling after Alexander Collie who, along with Lieutenant William Preston, in November 1829 was the first European ...

in the

South West Southwest is a compass point. Southwest, south-west, south west, southwestern or south-western or south western may also refer to: * Southwest (direction), an intercardinal direction Geography *South West Queensland, Australia *South West (Weste ...

region of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

, by road west-northwest of

Collie Collies form a distinctive type of herding dogs, including many related landraces and standardized breeds. The type originated in Scotland and Northern England. Collies are medium-sized, fairly lightly-built dogs, with pointed snouts. Many type ...

. The Coalfields Highway passes through the town. The land is located within the boundaries of Nyoongar boodja, the land of the Nyoongar people, who lived in the area prior to forced colonisation. Land was originally set aside for

coal miner Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extrac ...

s so that they could live close to the mines in 1898. A railway station named West Collie opened in the same year. The original townsite, also called West Collie, was gazetted in 1906. The original townsite was later discovered to be placed over commercially viable

coal seam Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extrac ...

s so a new townsite was founded in 1911 located a short distance from the original. The new town was gazetted in 1912 and its name was changed in 1916 to Allanson. The town was named after an MLA for the seat of Collie, Arthur Alan Wilson, who was in office from 1908 to 1947. Allanson restored its original bush

school A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...

in 2002 after it operated in the town from 1911 to 1989 before being closed. A book ''A History of Allanson: Our Little Bush School'' has been written about people's memories of the school and community.

References

Towns in Western Australia Shire of Collie {{WesternAustralia-geo-stub