LOOKING BACK ON OVER 120 YEARS OF HISTORY AND CULTURE
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PORT HEDLAND: LOOKING BACK ON OVER 120 YEARS OF HISTORY AND CULTURE
Saturday 22 October 2016 marked 120 years since Port Hedland’s official gazettal as a town, and the Town of Port Hedland partnered with community members and groups to hold a number of events to commemorate this milestone. More than just a celebration of the town’s gazettal, the events were a recognition of the Town’s rich history and culture stretching further back than 120 years – looking at our pearling and pastoral history, and honouring Port Hedland’s Aboriginal roots.
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The Town of Port Hedland would like to thank the following people for their contribution and dedication in organising the Port Hedland 120 year celebrations:
Town of Port Hedland staff and community members planned a series of events and initiatives, including:
• Kelly Howlett
• Julie Matheson
• Julie Arif
• Katie Evans
• A photo a day on Facebook, for 120 days
• Ilse Gosper
• Sylvia Lockyer
• Joan Foley
• Anne Sibosado
• Story writing competition for school children and adults
• Julie Hull
• Helen Ellacott
• Gail Victor
• Mick Edwards
• Interstate visitor package for past residents • Old-Fashioned Sunday School Picnic • Cooke Point Playgroup Family Expo • Family Red Dirt Bush Dance + Ute Muster and Shine Show • North West Taekwondo Hanmadang • Port Hedland Netball Corporate Cup • Black Rock Stakes Revival: Point to Port • 120 years on film in South Hedland Town Square • West End Markets: Port Hedland 120 Edition
The images used in this booklet have been donated to the Town of Port Hedland’s local history collection and are the property of the Town of Port Hedland. Dates and locations attributed to these photographs were provided with the photos and are accurate to the best of our knowledge. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people please note this booklet may contain images of deceased persons.
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1930s Motoring
Rescue Dog
MESSAGE FROM THE DEPUTY MAYOR As someone who is proud to call themselves a long-term Hedland resident who has the red dust pumping through their veins, it is with deeper pride that I share the celebration of Port Hedland’s 120 years of gazettal with our fellow residents. Port Hedland can only be described as a unique, dynamic town that has seen the ebb and flow of the greatest moments in history. At the start of the 20th century, a group of innovative, visionary men built the impossible – a functioning port in an environment that was not suited for this purpose, exporting goods such as gold, pearls, wool and tin. Fast forward over 100 years later, we’re now home to the largest tonnage export port in the world, and the hub of the Australian economy. What strikes me most isn’t the fact that we have one of the world’s busiest ports, it’s the fact that our forefathers had the perseverance, and dare I say the stubbornness, to steam ahead with a project that everyone around them said would fail.
This attitude continues to live on in this town, and it’s this perseverance and stubbornness that has allowed Port Hedland to grow into the wonderful community that draws people back again and again. I have fond memories of growing up in Hedland – I went to the local primary and high school, raised a family and started my own business. This town has given me, and many other residents, endless opportunities. It’s what attracts investors, businesses and entrepreneurs to build in Hedland and to contribute its growth from a small pastoral town into a vibrant, attractive community. I look forward to seeing what the next 50 years has in store for the town and I wish I could stay around long enough to see what the town looks like in another 120 years! Camilo Blanco Deputy Mayor Town of Port Hedland 22 October 2016
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PORT HEDLAND: HOW IT BEGAN The Port Hedland townsite was already known as Marapikurrinya by the traditional custodians of the land, the Kariyarra people, and is a reference to the finger-like formation of the tidal inlets.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples now reside alongside people from over 70 nationalities and cultural backgrounds. This contributes to a rich and vibrant community. Although Port Hedland was gazetted in 1896, European settlers ‘discovered’ Port Hedland in 1628, when Captain Gerrit Frederikson De Witt ran his ship aground just south of Port Hedland. In 1861, Francis Thomas Gregory, an English-born Australia explorer, led an exploration in the Pilbara and named the De Grey River. Australia pioneer and philanthropist Walter Padbury was one of the first to settle and ‘open’ the North-West, chartering a 16 man vessel, ‘Mystery’, to the Pilbara with Captain Peter Hedland at the helm. Captain Hedland ran his ship ashore in 1893, in his search for a suitable port for the expanding pastoral history. The site where his ship ran aground was later called ‘Mangrove Harbour’.
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Decorated Aboriginal man
DeGrey Races 1905
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First Ship Loading
Goldsworthy Blasting
PORT HEDLAND’S FIRST INDUSTRIES: SHIPPING, PEARLING, PASTORAL AND GOLD MINING Port Hedland’s early years were focused on shipping, pearling and pastoral industries. What most people don’t know is that plans to develop the natural harbour as a port were abandoned as the natural environment was deemed unsuitable by Charles Wedge, the man responsible for developing a suitable port site. The first port was built 108 kilometres north of Condon Creek, and the townsite of Condon was gazetted in 1872, with a small community calling Condon home. Condon also became a pearling centre, with pearls first collected on the beds near the beaches; when this ran out, luggers were used to take divers out to sea. In 1896, the same year Port Hedland was gazetted, a jetty was built as the townsite, leased by entrepreneur Tom Traine. For the new port to be developed, many environmental factors had to be addressed: deep sand, mangrove swamps, mudflats, strong winds, extreme heat during summer, the cyclone season, short supply of fresh water, and the overabundance of files and mosquitoes. However, a new port was desperately needed so developers invested a lot of money, effort and ingenuity to overcome these environmental challenges to build our first port. These developers were the forerunners to our modern day mining and shipping companies, and the port authority, who still battle these same obstacles in their pursuit of expanding our current port.
With the development of a new port in Port Hedland, the port in Condon slowly became disused and from 1899 to 1905, the population decreased from 200 to just 12 residents. The townsite no longer exists, however Condon is a popular fishing and camping site and there are a few remaining homesteads still standing. Gold was discovered in 1888, 70 kilometres south-east of Port Hedland at Mallina and in 1891 in Marble Bar. The rise of gold mining was the first, but definitely not the last ‘mining boom’ the Pilbara would experience – there were approximately 120 gold mines operating at the height of the gold rush, and business houses such as Adelaide Steamship Company and Dalgety and Co were growing. The first gold bullion was shipped from Port Hedland in 1900. The port also imported a lot of equipment and supplies required for the new mines being built in and around the Port Hedland area; it also exported a range of products to ports around the world: wool to London; tin to Singapore; stock to Fremantle and Singapore; pearls and gold to Fremantle. The pastoral industry was the first to be set up in the Port Hedland region, with Charles Nairn taking up the first pastoral lease at De Grey Station in 1863. The main stock at the time was sheep, though cattle took over as water supplies and transport improved at the turn of the century. A combination of unfortunate factors and events – wild dogs, mice and grasshopper plagues and drought – caused De Grey Station to close in 1867; however it was reopened in 1869 by Anderson, McKenzie and Grant. Other stations leased at that time include Mundabullangana Station which was run by the McKay brothers for a short time.
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The Pier Hotel
Hedland 1986
THE GROWTH: OF THE PORT HEDLAND TOWNSITE At the same time as the first gold bullion export, the townsite around the port was growing. By 1900, the Pier Hotel and the Port Hedland Hotel were established, with the Esplanade Hotel following suit in 1904. In 1901, a second jetty was built to accommodate the ever increasing volumes of trade out of the port, and they were joined in 1910. The Roads Boards, which is now known as the Town of Port Hedland Council, was founded in 1906, which was the same year the first library was built by the Hedland Mechanics Institute, and the first school opened for 12 students. In 1915, the first hospital was built overlooking the harbour, and it was a basic facility with few amenities. Due to the Pilbara’s harsh environment, methods of transport and communications were difficult. The town’s isolation and climate made any journey slow and arduous. Transport was still by means of bull and donkey cart, and camels were also heavily used due to their ability to manage the heavy sand, heat and low water supply on these journeys. In 1907, Australia’s biggest delivery of camels arrived in Port Hedland in 1907, and they were used until the 1920s when cars became the normal mode of transport. The first cars appeared in Port Hedland in 1913. The first railway line between Port Hedland and Marble Bar opened on 15 July 1911, and sadly, two lives were lost during the construction of the rail line. One grave is still marked at Gorge Creek.
The rail line proved to be of great use to the pastoralists, because in addition to providing a more efficient means of transport, wells were sunk along the line to provide water for the steam locomotives, workers and pack animals. The first post office was built in 1910 by Charles Bayman; mail was delivered by steam ship but due to the unpredictable weather, it was an unreliable source of communication. Many ships were lost in stormy seas – the most famous being the sinking of the schooner, Bessie on 27 August 1907; and the sinking of SS Koombana on 21 March 1912, where 146 lives were sadly lost. The most popular form of entertainment during this time was the De Grey Races, which started in 1902 and each station along the De Grey River took turns in hosting this social event. The races equalled a week of socialising, news exchange (or gossip as we’d call it these days) and of course, the horse racing. Regional race meets are still an important part of Port Hedland’s social calendar – so much so that the Monday following Hedland Cup Day (first Sunday of August) is a public holiday in lieu of the WA Queen’s Birthday holiday. By the end of 1910, Port Hedland was a burgeoning town – though gold mining had started to wane, the pastoral industry was blossoming, thanks to the transport and infrastructure in place (rail and port). Regardless of its challenges, natural and man-made, the Town still forged forward with the same ‘never say die’ attitude that is prevalent in today’s community.
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AVIATION IN HEDLAND
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Airstrip 1930s
Aerial Picture - South Hedland
AVIATION IN HEDLAND
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De Havilland Dragon Refueling at Port Hedland Airport
AVIATION IN HEDLAND 14
Airport 1962
AVIATION IN HEDLAND
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Southern Cross
RFDS Building
AVIATION IN HEDLAND
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Airport 1971
Plane Earlier Times
AVIATION IN HEDLAND
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Port Hedland Aerodrome 1970’s
COMMUNITY
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The official emblem of the Town of Port Hedland Council, it was adopted in 1981. The birdflower, the symbol inside the circle, is a flower native to Port Hedland.
RECREATION
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Black Rock Stakes
Black Rock Stakes
RECREATION
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Black Rock Stakes
Black Rock Stakes
RECREATION
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Black Rock Stakes
RECREATION
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Port Hedland Netball Association, Premiers A1 Grade, 1982
Aerial shot of Pony Club, dated 6 September 1981
RECREATION
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Yachting 1976
RECREATION
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Rugby League Final
RECREATION
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People around Pool, Walkabout Hotel
Opening of Jim Caffey Scouts Hall in 1978
RECREATION
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DeGrey Races 1905
Port Hedland Race Track
RECREATION
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Cars at Marble Bar Races
Bush Gymkhana 1960’s
RECREATION
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Redex around Australia trials, possibly 1955
Speedway 1970
RECREATION
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Spinifex Spree 1976 - The Spinifex Spree is still held by the Town of Port Hedland each year in August over Friday and Saturday, attracting visitors to Hedland over the two days.
Hardie Used Motors 1973
EDUCATION
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Hedland School 1914
Hedland College being Built
EDUCATION
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Port Hedland Junior High Opening 1969
Port Hedland Junior High, opened 1982
ABOUT TOWN
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North Star Dry Cleaners, Edgar Street
ABOUT TOWN
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Dempsters 1970
Crameri Billiard and Saloon
ABOUT TOWN
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The Pier Hotel
South Hedland Library
ABOUT TOWN
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Cooke Point Rec Club, 1970s
Hall & Road Boards Office
ABOUT TOWN
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South Hedland Shopping Centre being built
ABOUT TOWN
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South Hedland Shopping Centre Opening 1977
South Hedland Units
ABOUT TOWN
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Richardson Street, Port Hedland, 1970s
Town’s Early Swimming Pool
ABOUT TOWN
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Goldsworthy pool 1970’s
South Hedland Aquatic Centre redevelopment, 2012
ABOUT TOWN
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PHPA Control Tower, built in 1968-69
National Bank
ABOUT TOWN
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Port Hedland Post Office
Corner of Withnell Street
ABOUT TOWN
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Port Hedland Aerial View
Port Hedland Aerial View
ABOUT TOWN
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Port Hedland Aerial View
Shay Gap Townsite
ABOUT TOWN
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Moore Street, Port Hedland
First Caravan Park
ABOUT TOWN
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Crows Nest
ABOUT TOWN
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Port Hedland from Finucane Island
ABOUT TOWN
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Keesing General Store
Civic Centre
ABOUT TOWN
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Official Event
Horse Roller on Street
ABOUT TOWN
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Old Port Hedland Courthouse
Elders & Pier Hotel
ABOUT TOWN
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First Power House
Redbank Power Station
ABOUT TOWN
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CWA House 1940s, now the new Dome Cafe overlooking harbour
Hedland to Marble Bar Rd
ABOUT TOWN
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Esplanade
1939 Esplanade
ABOUT TOWN
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Esplanade 1970’s
Pippingarra Station 1974
INDUSTRY IN HEDLAND
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Outlying Stations 1929
Posing Shearers
INDUSTRY IN HEDLAND
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Boodarie Wool
INDUSTRY IN HEDLAND
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De Grey Station Sheep Yards
INDUSTRY IN HEDLAND
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De Grey Station Sheep Yards
Pearling
INDUSTRY IN HEDLAND
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First Ship Loading
INDUSTRY IN HEDLAND
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SS Denman run aground in Port Hedland
Condon Jetty 1894
INDUSTRY IN HEDLAND
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Jetty Progression, 1900
Jetty Progression
INDUSTRY IN HEDLAND
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Hedland 1986
INDUSTRY IN HEDLAND 62
Port 1970s
INDUSTRY IN HEDLAND
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Basket Passenger Transfer
SS Koolama
INDUSTRY IN HEDLAND
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Ships and Town of Port Hedland
Dredged for Reclamation
INDUSTRY IN HEDLAND
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Spinifex Express
INDUSTRY IN HEDLAND
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Rail Sheds
Steam Engine Muccan Station
INDUSTRY IN HEDLAND
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Conveyor Belts Nelson Pt
Mt Newman Train Being Placed in Don Rhodes Museum
INDUSTRY IN HEDLAND
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Old Steam Loco 1955
INDUSTRY IN HEDLAND
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Shaw River Water Tanks
Water Tanks & Rail
INDUSTRY IN HEDLAND
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Manganese Hopper 1962
Timber Trucks
INDUSTRY IN HEDLAND
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Goldsworthy Mine Blasting, 1970s
INDUSTRY IN HEDLAND
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Goldsworthy mine site
Buster Powell
INDUSTRY IN HEDLAND
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First Salt Stockpile, Port Hedland
Leslie Salt 1970’s, now known as Rio Tinto Dampier Salt
INDUSTRY IN HEDLAND
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Mule Team
Truck with Drums
INDUSTRY IN HEDLAND
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Camels, 1900
1930’s Motoring
HEDLAND WEATHER
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Repairing Damage to Railway after 1939 Cyclone
1939 Cyclone damage
HEDLAND WEATHER
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1939 Cyclone damage
1939 Cyclone damage
HEDLAND WEATHER
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Storm & Port Hedland 1940s
Cyclone Joan Damage - 1975
HEDLAND WEATHER
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Cyclone Joan Damage - 1975
Cyclone Joan Damage - 1975
COMMUNITY
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Migrant Women’s Banner Project 1990-1991
COMMUNITY
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Migrant Women’s Banner 1991
Migrant Women’s Banner - unveiling 1991
PEOPLE OF PORT HEDLAND
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Gwen Ellery - Local nurse
PEOPLE OF PORT HEDLAND
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Double Wedding of Edgars and Clarkes
Fred Hull - RFDS
PEOPLE OF PORT HEDLAND
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Bill, Doris and Mears Monaghan with Bush Turkey
Dog Rescue
PEOPLE OF PORT HEDLAND
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Decorated Aboriginal man
PEOPLE OF PORT HEDLAND
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Horse breaker Jack Davis, dated 1932
Town of Port Hedland, Councillors 1974
PEOPLE OF PORT HEDLAND
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Two Men Outside Dalgety Manager’s House
LOOKING BACK ON OVER 120 YEARS OF HISTORY AND CULTURE