Lake Brown is a rural locality in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, located in the Shire of Mukinbudin approximately 57 kilometres (35 mi) north of Merredin and approximately 260 kilometres (160 mi) east-north-east of Perth.
| Lake Brown Western Australia | |
|---|---|
  Lake Brown | |
 | |
| Coordinates | 30°58′19″S 118°22′11″E / 30.9720°S 118.3696°E |
| Population | 13 (SAL 2016)[1][2] |
| Postcode(s) | 6479 |
| Area | 258.3 km2 (99.7 sq mi) |
| LGA(s) | Shire of Mukinbudin |
| State electorate(s) | Central Wheatbelt |
| Federal division(s) | Durack |
History
editLake Brown is the largest of a series of intermittent lakes in the area. It was surveyed by John Septimus Roe in 1836 and named after Colonial Secretary Peter Broun.[3] The present locality of Lake Brown does not include the lake of the same name, which is located in the neighbouring Shire of Nungarin.[4]
By 1910, 60,000 acres (24,000 ha) of land were open for selection at Lake Brown.[5] In the 1920s Lake Brown was the site of a soldier settlement scheme.[6]
The Wyalkatchem to Mukinbudin railway line was extended to Lake Brown from Mount Marshall in 1923, and Lake Brown was the site of the turning triangle until 1930 when it was moved to Mukinbudin.[7] The railway siding was originally named Kalkalling, but was renamed in 1926 at the request of local residents.[8]
Lake Brown was originally part of the Nungarin Road District, but was moved to the new Mukinbudin Road District in 1933.[9] A willy-willy in January 1934 destroyed the local hall and damaged a number of sheds and houses in Lake Brown.[10] In the 1930s the district had its own branches of the Returned and Services League, the Country Women's Association, and the Wheatgrowers' Union of Western Australia.[11] The Lake Brown townsite was surveyed in 1943.[12]
References
edit- ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Lake Brown (suburb and locality)". Australian Census 2016.
- ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Lake Brown (suburb and locality)". Australian Census 2016 QuickStats. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
- ^ "Lake Brown". Inherit. State Heritage Office. 2017. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
- ^ "Shire of Nungarin Bounday Map" (PDF). Shire of Nungarin. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
- ^ Cornish, Maxine (2010). A Piece of String: Stories of the Nungarin District (PDF). Shire of Nungarin. p. 59. ISBN 978-0-9599158-2-2.
- ^ "Places of Interest". Shire of Mukinbudin. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
- ^ "Mukinbudin Railway Station". Shire of Mukinbudin. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
- ^ "Lake Brown". Merredin Mercury and Central Districts Index. 28 January 1926.
- ^ "Nungarin Road Board". Dampier Herald. Western Australia. 29 June 1933. p. 2. Retrieved 23 January 2020 – via Trove.
- ^ "Lake Brown". Dampier Herald. Wyalkatchem. 18 January 1934.
- ^ Cornish 2010, pp. 122–123.
- ^ "Townsite of Lake Brown, Avon district". State Library of Western Australia. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
