Boddington, Western Australia
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Boddington Western Australia |
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Hotham River at Boddington
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 Boddington
Location in Western Australia
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| Coordinates | 32°48′07″S 116°28′16″E / 32.802°S 116.471°ECoordinates: 32°48′07″S 116°28′16″E / 32.802°S 116.471°E | ||||||||||||
| Population | 1,107 (2011 census) | ||||||||||||
| Postcode(s) | 6390 | ||||||||||||
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| LGA(s) | Shire of Boddington | ||||||||||||
| State electorate(s) | Wagin | ||||||||||||
| Federal Division(s) | Canning | ||||||||||||
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Boddington is a town and shire in the Peel region of Western Australia, located 120 kilometres (75 mi) south-east of Perth. The town sits on the road from Pinjarra to Williams on the Hotham River. At the 2011 census, Boddington had a population of 1,107 people - an increase of 181 people since the 2006 census which showed 926 people living there.
The town owes its name to an early settler, Henry Boddington, who was a farmer and shepherd in the 1860s and 1870s and leased land in the area in 1875, later moving to Wagin. His name became associated with a pool in the Hotham River at which he frequently camped. The original settled locality was called Hotham, 2 km west of the town at what is now the end of Farmers Avenue, named for the Farmer family, and a post office and school were established.
When the Hotham Valley Railway was being constructed in 1912 to meet demand created by the local timber industry, a townsite was chosen adjacent to the town, and subsequently gazetted. The town was built in the 1920s, with a school, hospital, council offices, post office, shops and agricultural hall. A railway bridge was built over the upper reaches of the Murray River in 1949, then known as "Asquith Bridge", and was used for carting railway timber to the Banksiadale Sawmill.
The area declined slowly over time, and the Dwellingup fires of 1961 devastated the local timber industry. By 1969, the railway had been closed and Boddington became a typical small service area for the surrounding district. However, the establishment of bauxite mining in 1979 to service Western Australia's alumina production at Worsley, Kwinana and Wagerup, and the opening of the Boddington Gold Mine in 1987 created a thriving mining town.
Boddington is located 11 kilometres (7 mi) off Albany Highway and 123 kilometres (76 mi) southeast of Perth in the Darling Scarp. It has a population of about 1,000 and is the centre of a sheep and timber district as well as a service centre for the nearby bauxite and gold mines. It contains a TAFE centre, and each year on the first weekend of November hosts a 3-day Rodeo. In addition, a district high school (1920), National Australia Bank, shopping facilities, accommodation (hotel, motel, caravan park), council offices and a telecentre are located within the town.
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