Yarloop, Western Australia
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Yarloop Western Australia |
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Timber mill at Yarloop (September 2001)
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 Yarloop
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| Coordinates | 32°57′18″S 115°54′00″E / 32.955°S 115.90°ECoordinates: 32°57′18″S 115°54′00″E / 32.955°S 115.90°E |
| Population | 545 (2006 census) |
| Established | 1894 |
| Postcode(s) | 6218 |
| Location | |
| LGA(s) | Shire of Harvey |
| State electorate(s) | Murray-Wellington |
| Federal Division(s) | Forrest |
Yarloop is a town in the South West of Western Australia along the South Western Highway, between Waroona and Harvey. At the 2006 census, Yarloop had a population of 545. On 7 January 2016 a bushfire destroyed most of the town.
The name Yarloop is said to have originated from the words "yard loop", the rail loop into the timber yard there. However, the name is more likely Aboriginal in origin (most likely from the local Bindjareb Noongar people). Yalup Brook is situated only about 5 km north of Yarloop and there is similarity in pronunciation of the word and the early spelling variations of the siding (Yailoup and Yarloup) support it being Aboriginal.
In 1849, Joseph Logue arrived in the area and farmed at nearby Cookernup. He was followed by W.J. Eastcott, who used to collect red gum bark and pit-sawn timber for other settlers, and John Bancells in 1886.
In 1894, Charles and Edwin Millar moved into the district looking to put nearby stands of jarrah to use - they had exported jarrah blocks to London for use in street paving. They soon established their own 300-acre (1.2 km2) timber town with accommodation and support facilities, located 2 km south of a government-surveyed town site as the company wished to maintain effective control over staff and workmen. However, not everyone working at the mill wanted to live in the facilities, so a company town on the eastern side of the railway and a public town on the western side developed. A siding on the Perth-Bunbury Railway came into being in 1896.
In 1901, they made Yarloop the centre of their operations, and the town became even more important when in 1905 they closed their Denmark mills on the south coast. At their peak, they employed over 500 people in the Yarloop area. By the 1930s, they boasted the largest private railway in the world with eight railway systems and 25 locomotives. The timber mill, originally known as the Waigerup mill, still operates and in 1984 the mill town was classified as a conservation area by the National Trust and is now protected by the Yarloop Conservation Plan (1998) administered by the Heritage Council.
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