Beacon

History

The first European to explore the area was John Septimus Roe in 1836. Shepherds were known to frequent the area in the 1870s to feed on the open grasslands, they were followed by sandalwood cutters in the 1880s. In 1889 the surveyor H King explored and charted the region and shortly afterward land was opened up for agriculture around Bencubbin. More surveyors went to work in 1921 making blocks and the earliest settlers in Beacon acquired farmland in 1922. The town is named after a local geographical feature called Beacon Rock; the name of the town, in 1929, was supposed to be Beacon Rock. The rock part of the name was dropped some time later and the townsite of Beacon was gazetted in 1931. Beacon was connected to the narrow gauge railway system on 27 April 1931 through the Burakin to Bonnie Rock railway line. In 1932 the Wheat Pool of Western Australia announced that the town would have two grain elevators, each fitted with an engine, installed at the railway siding.

Most-observed species

• Galah

  Eolophus roseicapilla (Vieillot, 1817) · Aves
  12
• Australian Ringneck

  Barnardius zonarius (Shaw, 1805) · Aves
  11
• Yellow-throated Miner

  Manorina flavigula (Gould, 1840) · Aves
  10
• Gray Butcherbird

  Cracticus torquatus (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  9
• Australian Raven

  Corvus coronoides Vigors & Horsfield, 1827 · Aves
  8
• Pied Butcherbird

  Cracticus nigrogularis (Gould, 1837) · Aves
  8
• Crested Pigeon

  Ocyphaps lophotes (Temminck, 1822) · Aves
  8
• Gray Shrikethrush

  Colluricincla harmonica (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  7

Most recent

• M 4.1 — 2025-07-27
  32 km NW of Merredin, Australia
• M 4.2 — 2025-03-27
  57 km WNW of Merredin, Australia
• M 4.1 — 2024-10-02
  50 km NW of Merredin, Australia
• M 4.4 — 2024-08-18
  70 km WNW of Merredin, Australia
• M 4.6 — 2024-08-18
  62 km WNW of Merredin, Australia
• M 4.1 — 2022-08-21
  117 km NW of Merredin, Australia