Whyalla

Sister cities

• Ezhou

History

Whyalla is part of the Barngarla Aboriginal country. A mariner named William Morgan Burgoyne purportedly recommended the site for the establishment of a port on False Bay to Harry Morgan of BHP. Burgoyne had spent several weeks there on a trip out from Port Augusta hunting kangaroo with his brother and another man called Alf Rowarth. At that time there was no settlement between Middleback Station and the Point Lowly Lighthouse, and kangaroos were plentiful there. Burgoyne recalled that the tug Florrie ferried a crew there a week later and pegged out the settlement first known as Hummocky. Whyalla was founded as "Hummock's Hill", and was known by that name until 1916. It was officially founded as Hummock's Hill in 1901 by the BHP Whyalla Tramway, which transported iron ore from Iron Knob in the Middleback Range to the sea. Its first shipment was transported across Spencer Gulf to Port Pirie, where it was used in lead smelters as a flux. A jetty was built to transfer the ore and the first shipment was sent in 1903. The early settlement consisted of small cottages and tents clustered around the base of the hill. The post office opened in 1901 as Hummock's Hill. In 1905 the town's first school opened. It was originally called Hummock Hill School but was subsequently renamed to Whyalla Primary School and Whyalla Higher Primary School. The school's current name is Whyalla Town Primary School. The arid environment and lack of natural fresh water resources made it necessary to import water in barges from Port Pirie. The Post Office was renamed Whyalla on 1 November 1919, The BHP long products division was divested in 2000 to form OneSteel, which is the sole producer of rail and steel sleepers in Australia. On 2 July 2012, OneSteel changed its name to Arrium. After…

Geography

Whyalla has a semi-arid climate (Köppen: BSk/BSh), with hot summers and mild winters. Temperatures vary throughout the year, with average maxima ranging from in January to in July, and average minima fluctuating between in January and in July. Annual precipitation is low, averaging between 77.9 precipitation days. The town has 62.7 clear days and 46.6 cloudy days annually. Extreme temperatures have ranged from on 24 January 2019 to on 12 June 1984 and 16 July 1982.

Most-observed species

• Singing Honeyeater

  Gavicalis virescens (Vieillot, 1817) · Aves
  742
• Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater

  Acanthagenys rufogularis Gould, 1838 · Aves
  676
• Welcome Swallow

  Hirundo neoxena Gould, 1842 · Aves
  507
• Silver Gull

  Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae (Stephens, 1826) · Aves
  476
• Crested Pigeon

  Ocyphaps lophotes (Temminck, 1822) · Aves
  474
• White-browed Babbler

  Pomatostomus superciliosus (Vigors & Horsfield, 1827) · Aves
  432
• White-winged Fairywren

  Malurus leucopterus Dumont, 1824 · Aves
  378
• Western Grasswren

  Amytornis textilis (Dumont, 1824) · Aves
  359

Most recent

• M 4.2 — 2018-11-21
  47 km N of Cowell, Australia
• M 3.3 — 2018-07-09
  9 km NNW of Jamestown, Australia
• M 3.9 — 2018-07-01
  15 km WNW of Cowell, Australia
• M 4.7 — 2010-06-05
  23 km NW of Cowell, Australia
• M 3.1 — 2008-12-28
  40 km SSE of Quorn, Australia
• M 3.1 — 2008-12-04
  17 km ESE of Crystal Brook, Australia