Hopetoun, Western Australia

Hopetoun
Western Australia
Hopetoun
Coordinates 33°57′S 120°53′E / 33.95°S 120.89°E / -33.95; 120.89Coordinates: 33°57′S 120°53′E / 33.95°S 120.89°E / -33.95; 120.89
Population 1,398 (2011 census)[1]
Established 1900
Postcode(s) 6348
Elevation 13 m (43 ft)
Location
LGA(s) Shire of Ravensthorpe
State electorate(s) Eyre
Federal Division(s) O'Connor

Hopetoun is a town on the south coast of Western Australia in the Shire of Ravensthorpe. Located on Mary Ann Harbour, Hopetoun is 590 kilometres (370 mi) south-east from capital city Perth and 160 kilometres (99 mi) west of Esperance.

History

Mary Ann Harbour was named in November 1865 by the sealer James Sale on the cutter Mary Ann. The Mary Ann was owned by whaling master John Thomas of Cheyne's Beach, 65 kilometres (40 mi) east of Albany, who had named it after his eldest daughter.[2]

Hopetoun was established in 1900 as the port servicing the Phillips River goldfield, named after the first Governor General of Australia, John Hope, 7th Earl of Hopetoun.[3] The townsite was gazetted on 9 February 1901.[4]

It was the terminus of the railway line between Hopetoun and Ravensthorpe. The line opened in 1909.[3][5][6]

The town became a shipping port for the mining industry, with a jetty built in 1901.[7] The railway closed in 1925 and the port closed in 1936, with the jetty remaining until its destruction in 1983.

Some of the town's electricity is generated by a wind-diesel system. Hopetoun has two 600 kilowatt wind turbines and two low-load diesel generators.[8]

There is a primary school, police station and a doctor has clinics in both Hopetoun and Ravensthorpe. Hopetoun also has a pub, bakery, IGA Supermarket, two cafes, a gift/souvenir shop, two hairdressers, two beauty salons and a hardware store. The population, in the 2011 Census, was 1,398. Hopetoun is a major site of accommodation for the Ravensthorpe lateritic nickel mine, east of the town of Ravensthorpe.[9]

References

  1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "Hopetoun (State Suburb)". 2011 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
  2. Sale, Captain James (22 June 1897). "Mary Ann Harbor - A Reply to Captain Denver". Albany Advertiser. p. 3. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
  3. 1 2 Western Australian Land Information Authority. "History of country town names – H". Retrieved 17 January 2007.
  4. Western Australian Government Gazette, file 9159/00, 9 February 1901, p.676.
  5. The Hopetoun - Ravensthorpe Railway Nugent, P.W. Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, November 1966, pp249–262
  6. Alex Gibson and D. H. S. du Plessis (December 1947). "Report to the Royal Commission appointed to inquire into the management, workings and control of the Western Australian Government Railways" (PDF). Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  7. "Hopetoun". The Sydney Morning Herald. 8 February 2004. Retrieved 31 January 2009.
  8. "Blowing a gale". Intersector. 19 September 2006. Archived from the original on 8 September 2007. Retrieved 15 February 2008.
  9. Nuic, Elvira (20 July 2007). "Swamped by the mining boom ... A plea for help from a small coastal community". ABC Stateline. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
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