Fitzgerald is a rural townsite and
locality
Locality may refer to:
* Locality, a historical named location or place in Canada
* Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England
* Locality (linguistics)
* Locality (settlement)
* Suburbs and localitie ...
of the
Shire of Ravensthorpe
The Shire of Ravensthorpe is a local government area in the southern Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, about halfway between the city of Albany and the town of Esperance and about southeast of the state capital, Perth. The S ...
in the
Goldfields-Esperance 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 ...
. The townsite lies north of the
South Coast Highway.
History
Fitzgerald is located on the traditional land of the
Wudjari people of the
Noongar
The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian people who live in the South West, Western Australia, south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton, Western Aus ...
nation.
The townsite of Fitzgerald was gazetted in 1967 as a service centre for the surrounding agricultural area, which had been opened up for settlement in the 1950s. A number of names were considered for the new town but Fitzgerald was eventually chosen, based on the name of the nearby river and the surrounding land district.
The Fitzgerald primary schools are listed on the
shire's heritage register. The first school opened in February 1966 with twelve pupils, and was replaced by a new school the following year. The second school building burned down in August 1967 and was replaced by a third one of identical design but with gas instead of wood heaters as the latter had caused the fire. The school was eventually closed and the building relocated to Ravensthorpe in 1997.
References
{{Towns Goldfields-Esperance WA
Shire of Ravensthorpe