Yalgoo, Western Australia

Infobox Australian Place
type = town
name = Yalgoo
state = wa


caption =
lga = Shire of Yalgoo
postcode = 6635
est = 1896
pop = 164 (2006 Census) [{Census 2006 AUS|id=SSC56106|name=Yalgoo (State Suburb)|quick=on|accessdate=2008-09-12]
elevation= 318
maxtemp = 27.9
mintemp = 13.2
rainfall = 259.1
stategov = North West
fedgov = Kalgoorlie
dist1 = 499
dir1 = N
location1= Perth
dist2 = 219
dir2 = ENE
location2= Geraldton
dist3 = 118
dir3 = ENE
location3= Mullewacoord|-28.341|116.683|type:city(100)_region:AU-WA_scale:100000|format=dms|display=title

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 1890s, 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 (opened in 1896) on the Northern Railway. Yalgoo's importance declined in the years after World War II after the forging of an all-weather road between Wubin and Paynes Find, across Lake Moore.

Yalgoo is also a local government area in Western Australia.

Pastoral Station names associated with Yalgoo

Note that some of these stations may lie outside of the local government boundary.
* Barnong
* Bunnawarra
* Carlaminda
* Dalgaranga
* Edah
* Gabyon
* Jingemarra
* Maranalgo
* Meka
* Melangata
* Mellenbye
* Mount Gibson
* Muralgarra
* Nalbarra
* Ninghan
* Noongal
* Oudabunna
* Thundelarra
* Wagga Wagga
* Wydgee

References

*

Further reading

* Palmer, Alex. (1985) "Yalgoo" Fremantle, W.A: Lap Industries. ISBN 0959058400

See also

* Yalgoo (biogeographic region) - the ecological region
* Shire of Yalgoo - the local government region
* Northern Railway (Western Australia)

External links

* [http://www.fallingrain.com/world/AS/8/Yalgoo.html FallingRain Map - elevation = 409m (Red dots are defunct railways)]