Tammin is a town in the central agricultural 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 ...

, east 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 midway between the towns of Cunderdin and Kellerberrin on the Great Eastern Highway. The surrounding areas produce

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

and other

cereal A cereal is a grass cultivated for its edible grain. Cereals are the world's largest crops, and are therefore staple foods. They include rice, wheat, rye, oats, barley, millet, and maize ( Corn). Edible grains from other plant families, ...

crops. The town is a receival site for Cooperative Bulk Handling. 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 ra ...

'' and ''

MerredinLink The ''MerredinLink'' is a rural passenger train service in Western Australia operated by Transwa between East Perth railway station, East Perth and Merredin railway station, Merredin. History The ''MerredinLink'' was introduced in June 2004 w ...

'' 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 using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

Southern Cross CRUX is a lightweight x86-64 Linux distribution targeted at experienced Linux users and delivered by a tar.gz-based package system with BSD-style initscripts. It is not based on any other Linux distribution. It also utilizes a ports system to ...

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 encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

, there was sufficient demand for land in the area for the government to declare a townsite, and the 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 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 announced that the town would have two

grain elevators A grain elevator or grain terminal 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 lowe ...

, each fitted with an engine, installed at the railway siding.

Rail services

Transwa'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