Overview of the History of Jarrahdale.
In the 1830s, a route
was marked and cleared from the Kelmscott region
south east to King George Sound, (now Albany)
and was to be known in time as the Albany Highway.
At the same time, a road was taken from Kelmscott
south to Pinjarra, and later Bunbury. The Bunbury
Road was to become the South West Highway.
Sandalwood was discovered east of the jarrah forests
and a thriving trade was established to Asian
countries. The sandalwood cutters laid down a
trail from east of the King George Sound track,
along the Cooralong Brook through what is now
Jarrahdale, then across to the coast for export.
From the 1830s to the 1850s, settlers holdings
were established north, east and south of the
present Jarrahdale townsite, and the settlers
produced wheat, milk and vegetables for sale to
others. In about 1855 Joseph Batt acquired a lease
of land, the Chestnuts, on the site of the present
Gooralong Park and built a flour mill powered
by a water wheel. Local settlers brought their
wheat there and the sandal wood cutters left wheat
there on their way to the coast, and picked up
their flour on the way back.
In 1862 The South West of Western Australia, including
the Cooralong Valley, received torrential rains,
in what was known as the Great Flood. It is calculated
that the present site of Jarrahdale would have
received about 650 mm of rain (about 26 inches)
over four weeks.
Early interest in the timber industry had not
been commercially viable because of the limitations
imposed by short term land leases. However, Governor
Weld in the late 1860s was to stimulate the establishment
and growth of an important timber industry in
this state by granting long term leases or concessions.
A group of investors in Victoria, including the
Wanliss brothers, William and Thomas, were to
be granted a 100,000 ha timber concession in June
187 1. The Ballarat Timber Company thus came into
being with a land lease stretching from Byford
in the north, almost to North Dandelup in the
south and east to include most of the Canning
River watershed. The new company was soon in financial
difficulties and was taken over by the Rockingham.
Jarrah Timber Company, although William Wanliss
was to be manager until 1876.
The first timber mill,
a 2 storey structure, was erected on the banks
of the Gooralong Creek in Jarrahdale by May 1872,
and by the terms of the lease a wooden railway
was built between Jarrahdale and Rockingham, a
distance of 23 miles, ( about 38 Ks) and the first
of three jetties constructed soon after. Then,
as soon as the 80 metre long, deep sea jetty was
completed, the first ship, the 'Northern Star'.)
berthed to take on timber for Melbourne. Thus
the timber industry was born in Jarrahdale and
port facilities established at Rockingham.
The first heavy duty mechanical device, the Thompson
Road Steamer, was imported to assist in hauling
the heavy mill equipment to site at Jarrahdale,
and was then to become the first loco on the line.
Soon after, a true locomotive , the Governor Weld
, was used to haul the timber trains, and in time,
new locomotives, Pioneer (with a tall funnel)
and Samson No 1 (with a balloon chimney) and
Samson No 2 were purchased.
In the early days, most of the log hauling was
done by horse or bullock teams supplied by the
settlers from farming areas surrounding the town.
The logs were brought to the log landings where
they were placed onto the trains which took them
to the mills for processing and from there the
cut timber was taken to Rockingham. for export
or north by lighter to Fremantle for the local
market. The wooden rails of the railway (or,
more correctly, tramway) caused a great deal
of difficulty because they were unable to take
the weight of the heavy locos, so they were replaced
by new iron rails in 1878.
 The
town of Jarrahdale developed steadily and by the
mid 1870s, fifty houses had been built as well
as a materials store and workshop supporting the
mill, plus a school for the town. The workers
were given timber off cuts to build their houses
and although they had to buy the iron for the
roof, no rent was charged until early in the twentieth
century. Working conditions were fairly demanding;
twelve hour days and six day weeks. Some recreational facilities were
established including a town library.
There had been some financial difficulties with
the Company which again changed ownership in the
late 1870s, but increased demand for timber in
the late 1870s developed into boom conditions
in the early 1880s. A telegraph office was established
north of Jarrahdale Road, a second mill, the Number
2, was built on Wongong Brook, a new school was
built, the loco, Pioneer, was purchased and later
Samson no 1, a second jetty was constructed at
Rockingham and 130 men were now employed, earning
from 6 shillings to 16 shillings a day according
to skill.
The Rockingham Jarrah Timber Company in this decade,
made various approaches to the Colonial Secretary,
Malcolm Fraser, to have constructed a through
railway line from Rockingham to the 36 mile Police
Post on the Albany Road. This proposal, plus another
to extend the link even further east to connect
it with the Beverley - Albany line, was rejected.
The town continued to flourish,
population by the mid 1880s being about 400 people,
180 being employed by the Company, while organised
sport had commenced in 1882, a Mechanics Institute
was built, as was Crock's Hall, (named after Mr
Crock who built it) musical entertainment was
well established and what was to become a long
standing institution - the annual picnic to Rockingham
- had begun. Also, the first Roman Catholic Chapel
had opened in 1885 and was to remain until the
convent building was erected in 1924. 1888 saw
the opening of Millbrook Hotel, much to the disapproval
of the mill management who complained of the effects
of drunkenness and absenteeism. The Millbrook
was closed during the time of the Great Depression.
It is thought,although there is some disagreement
on the time, that the Murray Arms Hotel also opened
in this decade. This building is still trading
as a hotel, named now, the Jarrahdale Tavern.
1884-85 are remembered as difficult years; the
mill was briefly closed in 1885 although 36 ships
were still loaded with timber at the Rockingham
jetties and a resumption of business saw 200 men
employed. In 1887 disaster struck as the original
No 1 Mill was burnt down. It was quickly rebuilt
as a single storey building, and during this time,
as an upgrade of machinery took place, all but
40 men were retrenched.
In the 1890s, conditions were extremely favourable.
Boom years commenced with the discovery of gold,
population increased dramatically and timber for
housing was in great demand, over 7,000 tons being
shipped from Jarrahdale in 1890 alone. In addition,
much timber from Jarrahdale was used as paving
blocks for the streets of London, Glasgow, Paris,
Melbourne and other cities. The timber company
was again reorganised and renamed the Rockingham.
Railways and Jarrahdale Forests Company in 1892
while in 1893, the government Bunbury - Perth
railway was completed, and intersected the Jarrahdale
- Rockingham Company line at what is now Mundijong,
but was then known as Jarrahdale Junction. At
Jarrahdale Junction, a huge timber stockyard was
developed, a stockpile for timber railed to the
coast at Rockingham or north to the fast developing
metropolitan area. Because of a shortage of government
rolling stock in this period of high demand, the
Company trains were, at times, to take timber
to Perth on the government line.
During the 1890s, more mills were built to cope
with the demand; No 3 Mill (the 39) built on 39
Brook, and the No 4 Mill on the Serpentine River,
No 5 Mill (Chandlers) built to the north east
of Jarrahdale. This latter was to be rebuilt at
Big Brook at the end of the decade, followed shortly
after by the building of the No 6 Mill at Big
Brook. Note, too, that by 1899 more than 300 men
were employed at the mills plus many more employed
at the bush landings throughout the forest, outside
Jarrahdale. There were 60 miles of railway constructed
and utilized for the timber company, lines to
haul the logs to the mills and to take feed to
bullock and horse teams working on the bush landings.
The
Company, too had undergone a change of ownership
and was after 1897, known as the Jarrahdale Jarrah
Forests and Railways Ltd.
The town itself had responded quickly to a growing
population; Jarrahdale was in the late 1890s the
fourth largest community in the state after Perth,
Bunbury and Kalgoorlie and now had a Wesleyan
Methodist church, a new school at Cousens Street,
a new police presence in the town and court house,
a hospital and resident doctor (Dr Rommies), a
post offlice built (now the museum) St Paul's
Church of England built in 1895. Most buildings including
the small public hall, a large hall with a stage,
the library, were, with the exception of one house,
were all under the control of the Company. Note, too,
there were post receiving offices in the bush
saw mills and a number of bush schools at outlying
saw mills.
By the 1900s, Jarrahdale had a town population
of about 1200 people while 800 more were housed
in surrounding bush landings and remote sites.
Workers' wages were 36/- for a 54 hour week and
this decade saw the great whims, used for log
hauling, now in common use.
However at this time, hardship developed because
of a proliferation of mills in other areas and
resulting over production of timber. To add to
the problems being experienced, the No 1 Mill
burnt down in 1901 and was not immediately re
built, a second No 2 Mill was rebuilt but the
whole industry was to experience a major overhaul
in 1902 with the amalgamation of eight major saw
milling companies under the one name of Millars
Karri and Jarrah Company Limited.
At this time, other important developments took
place and included a decision ( following a request
by the company to the Fremantle Harbour Trust
to deepen the channel at Mangles Bay, a request
which was denied) to scale down shipments of timber
via the rail route to Rockingham. Consequently
there were reduced shipments from Rockingham until
by 1907 and 1908, only one ship per year had operated.
Bunbury was to become the state's major timber
export port. Jarrahdale Junction was renamed Mundijong and the depot became an j important consolidation
point for the forwarding of timber to Perth for
the local market.
The mill at Jarrahdale townsite lost some of its
importance for some years as the two large mills
at Big Brook, Numbers 5 and 6, took prominence
from the turn of the century until 1912 - 1913,
being enlarged in 1902. The townsite of Big Brook,
which housed the mill workers and the bush workers
grew quickly to maintain a sizeable workforce
and an overall population of about 1,000 people.
There was a village green 1 sports ground at Big
Brook, a cricket ground, tennis courts, hall for
entertainment, school, which in 1908 had 118
children on the roll, two swimming pools (one
for men and one for women) shops, fishing in the
creeks, outings and excursions.
The wages in 1907 were recorded as being seven
shillings and sixpence minimum per day, but grievances
held by the men over hours, wages and working
conditions, as well as concerns by management
over government taxes and diminishing markets
led to what was termed the Great Strike in190. The strike spread over all the mill towns, lasted
14 weeks and caused much hard hardship before
the matter was resolved. The No 5 Mill was opened
by Management using office and other staff from
various locations; these 'blacklegs' aroused a
mixture of much anger or amused tolerance and
on one occasion were attacked by the umbrella
wielding wives of some of the strikers.
In 1910 the No 6 Mill was destroyed by fire, then
rebuilt, while at this time the powerful Steam
Haulers were introduced - highly effective machines
for log hauling - but so expensive that only the
big mills could afford them. However, the days
of the settlement at Big Brook were numbered;
two new large mills were built back in Jarrahdale,
the big Number 1 (a huge mill with 28 benches)
and a new No 2, built end to end with No 1. The
Company planned and constructed a new town, named
New Town, east of where the original settlement
took place and railed the workers, their families
and many of their houses, back to Jarrahdale,
employing the old Big Brook workers in the new
mills. Note the Company's name change - 1902 to
1912, Millars' Karri and Jarrah Co. Ltd. and 1912
to 1970, Millars' Timber & Trading Co. Ltd.
The outbreak of World War 1,
1914 - 1918, saw 136 men from Jarrahdale enlisting;
41 died and their names are inscribed on the town
War Memorial. The output from the mills was much
reduced during this period but increased activity
took place after the war when there was a demand
for railway sleepers, paving blocks and building
timber, occasioned in part by the visit of a French
trade mission under General Pau. At this time,
also, there was a large number of Italian families
who came to live in Jarrahdale. Only a few were
employed in the mill and many apparently became
railway gangers. The Mechanics Institute was built
in 1914, was used by the community until 1982
when it was replaced by the Bruno Gianatti Memorial
Hall in that same year.
The 1920s saw the destruction by fire of the No
2 Mill (then rebuilt) the closure of the Roman
Catholic school and the fairly recently opened
Bush Landing School while the Jarrahdale State
School numbered 150 children on the roll. Soon,
however, the Great Depression would strike and
great hardship became the lot of the mill workers.
Both mills were closed and many men were unemployed
and in December the timber lease or concession
expired so the Company was hit by extra charges,
mainly in the form of timber royalties plus higher
costs as trade dropped. The big No 1 Mill closed,
was cannibalised and was not to open again. The
Millbrook Hotel closed during the Great Depression and reopened in 1936 and closed for good in 1938. The population drifted
away from the town looking for work elsewhere.
In 1930, No 2 Mill closed and perhaps No 3 Mill
then ceased operations.
Conditions started to improve by 1935 as the Depression
in W.A. lifted, the No 2 Mill was re opened and
by that time mechanisation was becoming evident
in'the bush. The 'Crawler' logging tractor was
introduced, 30 hp 'Holts', then Caterpillars and
gradually tractors replaced the old teams, and
log hauling trucks became important. During World
War II, 1939 to 1945, despite lowered demand
the mill remained opened, although in 1943 the
No 2 Mill was burnt down and another mill built
on the site of the old No 1 Mill while soon after
the old railway was replaced by heavy log hauling
trucks. The railway line from Mundijong to Rockingharn
would be pulled up in 1950.
 Disaster struck again in 1949 when the Number
1 Mill was destroyed by fire but quickly rebuilt,
thus making the new mill the fifth No 1 Mill!
By the late 1940s, the first power saws, mobile
circular and cross cut saws (petrol driven) were
operating. The machinery at the mills before this
had been steam driven.
From 1950 until the present
day (2004) Jarrahdale has been witness to the
building of the Serpentine Dam, opened in 1961,
which drowned the site of the old Numbers 5 and
6 Mills and the town of Big Brook, the closure
of the town hospital, the destruction of the school
by fire and its rebuilding in Wanliss Street,
the commencement of bauxite mining in Jarrahdale
(at its number 1 site, now rehabilitated as Langford
Park), the building of a new all electric mill
to replace the old No 1 Mill, the closing down
of bauxite mining in 1997 and the closing of the
last timber mill in 1998-9.
The Company had become Millars Australia Pty. Ltd.
in 1970 and were finally to sell out to Bunning
Bros in 1993.
Jarrahdale was, in 1997 listed as a classified
Heritage Town.
|
Built
in 1896, the Old Post Office tourist centre provides
a wealth of information on the attractions of
Jarrahdale, its rich history, as well as a range
of local crafts at reasonable prices.
The
Old Post Office is the starting point of many
guided walks, run by the Jarrahdale Heritage Society.
