Pemberton

History

The region was originally occupied by the Bibbulmun people who knew the area as Wandergarup, which in their language meant 'plenty of water'. Following an expedition to the area in 1861 by Edward Reveley Brockman, his brother-in-law Gerald de Courcy Lefroy and his uncle Pemberton Walcott, in 1862 Brockman established Warren House homestead and station on the Warren River; Walcott, after whom the town would be named, established Karri Dale farm on the northern outskirts of the later townsite; and Lefroy established a farm and flour mill on Lefroy Brook (the current site of the 100 Year Forest). Walcott remained until at least 1867. By 1868 he was at Dwalganup Station near Boyup Brook, and in 1872 Karri Dale was for sale, marketed as a "four-roomed brick cottage, stockyards, cattle shed, good garden - stocked with fruit trees and permanent running water". In 1913, the new government-owned State Saw Mills began construction of twin sawmills, No 2 and No 3, at the location then known as Big Brook, to supply half a million railway sleepers for the Trans-Australian Railway. The mill site was in a valley to ensure the mills had a regular supply of water and because it was easier to roll logs down hill to the mills. Big Brook became a thriving private mill town, with a hall, store, staff accommodation, mill workers' cottages, and single men's huts, and two boarding houses. During the 1920s the area was a focus of the Group Settlement Scheme and following the Second World War the War Service Land Settlement Scheme, but with only moderate success. During the 1980s, Pemberton began to grow as a tourist town and tourism, particularly domestic, continues to play a key role. Log sawmilling was still the most active industry in 2005, occupying 12.8% of the workforce, despite the…

Most-observed species

• Red-winged Fairywren

  Malurus elegans Gould, 1837 · Aves
  693
• Gray Fantail

  Rhipidura albiscapa Gould, 1840 · Aves
  679
• Red Wattlebird

  Anthochaera carunculata (Shaw, 1790) · Aves
  627
• Australian Ringneck

  Barnardius zonarius (Shaw, 1805) · Aves
  626
• New Holland Honeyeater

  Phylidonyris novaehollandiae (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  578
• Laughing Kookaburra

  Dacelo novaeguineae (Hermann, 1783) · Aves
  558
• Gilbert's Honeyeater

  Melithreptus chloropsis Gould, 1848 · Aves
  532
• White-breasted Robin

  Eopsaltria georgiana (Quoy & Gaimard, 1830) · Aves
  527

Most recent

• M 5.2 — 2018-11-08
  64 km SSW of Kojonup, Australia
• M 4.5 — 2018-10-12
  63 km SSW of Kojonup, Australia
• M 5.3 — 2018-09-16
  57 km E of Manjimup, Australia
• M 4.1 — 2009-04-08
  43 km SW of Kojonup, Australia
• M 2.7 — 2006-03-04
  9 km ESE of Donnybrook, Australia