Newman, originally named Mount Newman until 1981, is a town in the
Pilbara region of Western Australia. It is located about north of
Perth
Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
, and north of the
Tropic of Capricorn
The Tropic of Capricorn (or the Southern Tropic) is the circle of latitude that contains the subsolar point at the December (or southern) solstice. It is thus the southernmost latitude where the Sun can be seen directly overhead. It also reach ...
. It can be reached by the
Great Northern Highway. Newman is a modern mining town, with homes contrasting with the surrounding reddish desert. As of the , Newman had a population of 6,456.
The
Hickman Crater, a meteorite impact crater discovered in 2007, is north of Newman.
History
Newman was established as Mount Newman by Mt. Newman Mining Co. Pty Ltd (a subsidiary of
BHP) in 1966 as a company town to support the development of iron ore deposits at nearby
Mount Whaleback. The town takes its name from nearby Mount Newman, named in honour of government surveyor Aubrey Woodward Newman (son of
Edward Newman who also died young) who died of typhoid aged 28 at
Cue on 24 May 1896, while on an expedition from
Nannine to the
Ophthalmia Range
The Ophthalmia Range is a mountain range in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, approximately north of Perth, Western Australia, Perth. There are some variations of the spelling of Ophthalmia. The eastern end of the range is connected to ...
. William Frederick Rudall then took charge of the expedition and named Mount Newman to honour his deceased leader.
Aboriginal occupation of the area goes back around 45,000 years. The
Martu people comprise about a dozen language groups that extend across the
Gibson and
Great Sandy Deserts. The Martu progressively lost their land and nomadic lifestyle as European expansion crept inland from the late 19th century. Western exploration, the establishment of Christian missions, and gold discoveries at
Marble Bar and
Wiluna led to Indigenous people being forced from their ancestral lands.
Commercial area and amenities

Typical of company towns, Newman is laid out with a core, where shopping and hotels are located, surrounded by residential areas, with more industrial activities on the outskirts. There are two supermarkets in town (one
Woolworths and an
IGA), two shopping plazas, three hotels, and three bars/restaurants outside of those contained in the hotels. One public outdoor pool serves the town's population.
In late 2017, Parnawarri Retail centre (Parnawarri meaning "united" or "all together" in
Nyiyaparli)
was opened and houses the town's second supermarket (
IGA) as well as a
Dome
A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...
coffeehouse, SportsPower and a
Chicken Treat.
BHP invested $30 million to build the retail centre.
The town contains Newman Primary School, South Newman Primary School,
Newman Senior High School, and Rawa Community School.
Transport and infrastructure
Newman is located at the end of route 138 meeting the
Great Northern Highway.
The town is served by
Newman Airport.
A privately owned railway, the
Mount Newman railway, was constructed linking it to
Port Hedland, which itself was upgraded to handle shipment of the ore to the world market. On 21 June 2001 a train long, comprising 682 ore cars and eight locomotives made the Newman—Port Hedland trip and is listed as the world's longest-ever train. The ore trains are typically over 2 km long. Newman is also a service town to nearby mining settlements including
Tom Price and
Paraburdoo.
Electricity is supplied by
Alinta from its 180 MW gas-fired power station with a 30MW/11MWh Kokam battery at Newman. The station also supplies the
Roy Hill mine, with grid construction reaching the
Cloudbreak and
Christmas Creek mines.
Architecture
Being founded in the 1960s, Newman's architecture reflects the modernist styles of that decade and the next, being predominantly functional and devoid of detail or embellishment. As the town was founded and built by a steel company, the majority of buildings use steel frame construction. This applies to the homes themselves, most of them being two
prefabricated
Prefabrication is the practice of assembling components of a structure in a factory or other manufacturing site, and transporting complete assemblies or sub-assemblies to the construction site where the structure is to be located. Some research ...
halves inserted together into a steel I-section frame, the columns of which are left exposed on the exterior of the home. This construction method serves not only to showcase the company's product, but also gives strong resistance to
cyclone
In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an ant ...
winds which can affect the region from time to time. For this same reason most houses are elevated from the ground by a few steps. Many houses also have large air-conditioning units situated next to them to provide adequate cooling against the hot summer temperatures.
Climate
Newman has a
hot desert climate
The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk'') is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...
(
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
''BWh''), with very hot summers and mild winters. The temperature reaches or exceeds for many days in the summer. On 15 January 1998, the temperature reached an all-time recorded high of . The annual average rainfall is which would make it a
semi-arid climate
A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of se ...
except that its high
evapotranspiration
Evapotranspiration (ET) refers to the combined processes which move water from the Earth's surface (open water and ice surfaces, bare soil and vegetation) into the Atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere. It covers both water evaporation (movement of w ...
, or its barrenness, makes it a
desert
A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the la ...
climate.
Precipitation
In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls from clouds due to gravitational pull. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, rain and snow mixed ("sleet" in Commonwe ...
is sparse, but the influx of monsoonal moisture in the summer, which generally begins in December and lasts until April, raises humidity levels and can cause occasional heavy storms. Winter months are mild to warm, with daily high temperatures ranging from the to , and low (nighttime) temperatures rarely dipping below .
See also
*
Pilbara historical timeline
*
Pilbara newspapers
*
Red Dog (Pilbara)
References
Further reading
* Austin, Noel (1999) ''The Newman story, 1967-1969''. Publication details not known - held at Battye library, Perth, Western Australia
* DuBois, Lesley et al. (1994) ''Moving a mountain: an historic illustrated and photographic study of the town of Newman''. Perth, Western Australia: L. DuBois
* Eckhart, Peter (1996) ''Whaleback tales''. Carlisle, Western Australia: Hesperian Press.
External links
{{authority control
Shire of East Pilbara
Mining towns in Western Australia
1966 establishments in Australia
Populated places established in 1966