Three Springs is a town located north of

Perth, Western Australia 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 ...

on the Midlands Road, which until the opening of the

Brand Highway Brand Highway is a main highway linking the northern outskirts of Perth to Geraldton in Western Australia. Together with North West Coastal Highway, it forms part of the Western Australian coastal link to the Northern Territory. The highway i ...

in 1975 was the main road route from Perth to the state's north. The town is the seat of the

Shire of Three Springs The Shire of Three Springs is a Local government areas of Western Australia, local government area in the Mid West (Western Australia), Mid West region of Western Australia, about north of the state capital Perth. The Shire covers an area of , ...

. Its economy is based on agriculture (mainly broad acre grain cropping and sheep farming) and mining.

History

The first Europeans to pass near the Three Springs area were government Assistant Surveyor

Augustus Charles Gregory Sir Augustus Charles Gregory (1 August 1819 – 25 June 1905) was an English-born Australian explorer and surveyor. Between 1846 and 1858 he undertook four major expeditions. He was the first Surveyor-General of Queensland. He was appointed a ...

and

Francis Thomas Gregory Francis Thomas "Frank" Gregory (19 October 1821 – 23 October 1888) was an Australian explorer and politician. Born in England, he emigrated with his family to Australia as a boy. He was the younger brother of the explorer and politician Augu ...

(both attached to the department of the Surveyor-General) and their brother Henry Churchman Gregory, on a public-private funded expedition to search for new agricultural land beyond the settled areas. On 14 September 1846, they camped at Eneabba Springs, southwest of Three Springs, while returning to Perth from the

Irwin River The Irwin River is a river in the Mid West region of Western Australia. It was named on 9 April 1839 by the explorer George Grey, while on his second disastrous exploration expedition along the Western Australian coast. Grey named the river aft ...

. In 1867, government Assistant Surveyor

Charles Cooke Hunt Charles Cooke Hunt (1833 – 1 March 1868, Geraldton) was an English explorer who led four expeditions into the interior of Western Australia between 1864 and 1866. Hunt was born in Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the ...

, while undertaking a road survey recorded the words "Three Springs" at the site of the current town after some nearby springs. The name began to appear on official maps from then on and land in this region was soon taken up as pastoral leases. In 1895, the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 in rail transport, 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had ...

was built under a land grant scheme from

Midland Junction Midland is a suburb and historic town of Perth, Western Australia, located northeast of Perth's central business district. It is the administrative seat and commercial centre of the City of Swan local government area. It is also a designate ...

to Walkaway. Under the land grant scheme the railway consortium was able to select land within of the new railway. Three Springs was a siding on the line. In 1907 the government declared a townsite adjacent to the railway siding, gazetted as ''Kadathinni'' in 1908. It was also intended to change the name of the station when the townsite was named, but this was overlooked, and it remained Three Springs. The townsite was also locally known as ''Three Springs'', and in 1946 the name was officially changed to ''Three Springs'' to conform with local usage. 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.

Flora

The shrub '' Banksia trifontinalis'' (Three Springs

Dryandra ''Banksia'' ser. ''Dryandra'' is a series of 94 species of shrub to small tree in the plant genus ''Banksia''. It was considered a separate genus named ''Dryandra'' until early 2007, when it was merged into ''Banksia'' on the basis of extensiv ...

) is named after the town, in the vicinity of which it was first collected.

Economy

Three Springs' economy is built on mining and agriculture, including broad acre grain cropping and sheep farming, as well as cattle, pigs and wildflower

intensive farming Intensive agriculture, also known as intensive farming (as opposed to extensive farming), conventional, or industrial agriculture, is a type of agriculture, both of arable farming, crop plants and of Animal husbandry, animals, with higher levels ...

Imerys IMERYS S.A. is a French Multinational corporation, multinational company that specialises in the production and processing of industrial minerals. The main headquarters is located in Paris and are constituents of the CAC Mid 60 index. Groupe Bru ...

, a French industrial minerals company, operates the world's second largest

talc Talc, or talcum, is a clay mineral composed of hydrated magnesium silicate, with the chemical formula . Talc in powdered form, often combined with corn starch, is used as baby powder. This mineral is used as a thickening agent and lubricant ...

mine just outside the Three Springs townsite. Up until 2004, the talc was railed to

Geraldton Geraldton (Wajarri language, Wajarri: ''Jambinu'', Wilunyu language, Wilunyu: ''Jambinbirri'') is a coastal city in the Mid West (Western Australia), Mid West region of Western Australia, north of the state capital, Perth. As of the , Geraldt ...

for export. As a result of contamination from iron ore at the port rail unload facility, since 2004 it has been transported by road.

Notable residents

* James Gardiner (1861–1928), politician * Patrick Lynch (1867–1944), politician

References

External links

Shire of Three Springs

Early History of Three Springs

Three Springs Cemetery

Biographical Dictionary of Coorow, Carnamah and Three Springs
{{authority control Mining towns in Western Australia Towns in Western Australia Grain receival points of Western Australia Shire of Three Springs