Westonia is a small town located in the eastern Wheatbelt 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 ...

, 10 kilometres (6 mi) north of the

Great Eastern Highway Great Eastern Highway is a road that links the Western Australian capital of Perth with the city of Kalgoorlie. A key route for road vehicles accessing the eastern Wheatbelt (Western Australia), Wheatbelt and the Goldfields-Esperance, Goldfie ...

. It is the main town in the

Shire of Westonia The Shire of Westonia is a local government area in the eastern Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, about east of Perth, the state capital. Its seat of government is the small town of Westonia. Although the Shire of Westonia is located ...

History

Westonia came into existence with the discovery in 1910 of

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

in the area, by a

sandalwood Sandalwood is a class of woods from trees in the genus ''Santalum''. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and, unlike many other aromatic woods, they retain their fragrance for decades. Sandalwood oil is extracted from the woods. Sanda ...

cutter named Alfred Weston (17 May 1876 – 26 September 1924). Initially the area was known as ''Weston's Reward'' and later as ''Westons''. By 1915 there were two major mines in the area, and the population was in excess of 500. By 1917 the area, by then known as ''Westonia'', had a population of more than 2,000. In 1919, low gold prices forced the closure of the mines, and many people left the area. Westonia was gazetted as a town in February 1926. In 1935 one of the mines reopened, but closed again in 1948, only to be reopened in 1985. The mine then closed once again in 1991. In mid-2009, it was announced that mining would once again commence at Westonia's Edna May Gold Mine, with the first gold pour anticipated for May 2010, coinciding with the centenary of the discovery of gold in the district. In October 2009, Westonia won the Tidy Towns - Sustainable Communities competition for the central Wheatbelt region. Westonia won the same title in October 2010, and was also declared the state winner in November 2010.

Things to see

*Westonia Historic Townsite *Wolfram Street Facades *Westonia Caravan Park *Westonia Common *Boodalin Soak * Elachbutting Rock *Yanneymooning Reserve *Baladjie Rock *Edna May Gold Mine Westonia Mine

References

External links

Shire of Westonia
{{authority control Towns in Western Australia Mining towns in Western Australia Shire of Westonia