Yalgoo, Western Australia

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The townsite of Yalgoo is located in the Murchison region, 499 km north north east of Perth and 118 km east north east of Mullewa. Gold was discovered in the area in the early 1890's, and by 1895 there were 120 men working the diggings and buildings being erected. The goldfield warden asked for a townsite to be surveyed and gazetted, and following survey the townsite of Yalgu was gazetted in January 1896. The spelling Yalgu was used because of spelling rules for Aboriginal names adopted by the Lands & Surveys Department (the letter u best representing the "oo" sound). Within a month the Lands & Surveys had decided reluctantly to use the original Yalgoo spelling, and this spelling has been used ever since. Some doubt about the spelling being officially changed resulted in an amendment from Yalgu to Yalgoo being gazetted in 1938.

Yalgoo is an Aboriginal name first recorded for Yalgoo Peak by the surveyor John Forrest in 1876. The name is said to mean "blood" or "place of blood", derived from the word "Yalguru". An alternative view is that it is derived from the Yalguru bush which abounds in the area, and has blood red sap.

It was once the location of an important railway station on the Northern Railway, station opened in 1896. Yalgoo's importance declined after the forging of an all weather road between Wubin and Paynes Find during the Post WWII era across Lake Moore.

Yalgoo is also a local government area in Western Australia.

[edit] Station Names associated with Yalgoo

Note that some of these stations may lie outside of the local government boundary.

Shire Boundary on the Great Northern Highway near Mt Gibson

Barnong
Bunnawarra
Carlaminda
Dalgaranga
Edah
Gabyon
Jingemarra
Maranalgo
Meka
Melangata
Mellenbye
Mount Gibson
Muralgarra
Nalbarra
Ninghan
Noongal
Oudabunna
Thundelarra
Wagga Wagga
Wydgee

[edit] References

Department of Land Administration

Local Government Areas of the Mid West region of Western Australia
Carnamah \| Chapman Valley \| Coorow \| Cue \| Geraldton \| Greenough \| Irwin \| Meekatharra \| Mingenew \| Morawa \| Mount Magnet \| Mullewa \| Murchison \| Northampton \| Perenjori \| Sandstone \| Three Springs \| Wiluna \| Yalgoo