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Greenbushes |
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Location, location,
location…Come and visit Greenbushes situated just off the
Harvest Highway in one of the most beautiful
areas in the south west and enjoy the scenery and the welcoming
charm of this small country town.
Greenbushes is a historic picturesque town situated on the highest
point of the Southern Darling Scarp. It is surrounded by rolling
hills, beautiful valleys and the Blackwood River winds around the
surrounding countryside. It is situated in South West of WA in the
Blackwood River Valley between the country towns of Balingup and
Bridgetown.
Greenbushes history dates back to the 1800’s and there are many
historic buildings that form part of the attractions of the town.
Its history relates predominately to mining and timber and many of
the attractions such as the Award Winning Discovery Centre and the
Greenbushes Pool Boardwalk relate to this history. The newly created
Water Bird Environment Conservation Area was originally a mining
excavation that has been converted to a breeding area for endangered
birds. Parks in Greenbushes include Heritage Park with examples of
historic mining equipment and Thompson Park has newly installed play
equipment for children. The community garden relates to conservation
with its’ native bee hotel and frog pond designed to encourage
native fauna. There are walks of discovery from easy to more
challenging plus a walk that joins the Bibbulum Track. There is also
a heritage tourist drive from Greenbushes to Bridgetown that follows
the Blackwood River. Within the town there are two hotels and a café
that offer meals, a curio/antique outlet, a roadhouse, post office,
community resource centre, restored historic buildings,
accommodation in the town and nearby, a free camping area and for
the golf enthusiasts a Golf Course in North Greenbushes.
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History
of Greenbushes
The first inhabitants were the Nyungar people
whose community was on the Blackwood River. As well as the
indigenous community there were people travelling from Bunbury to
settlements further south who stopped at a local well for water. The
location of the well was distinguished by the Callistachys
lanceolata bush which is bright green in colouring. Thus the name
Greenbushes!
In the 1880’s the gold rush started and prospectors started what was
called scratching in and around Greenbushes. Instead of finding gold
tin was found and in 1888 a tin mining lease was issued. Within one
year the lease was very profitable and as mining grew so did
Greenbushes. In 1892 there were 200 mining leases, 8 business
licenses, and 6476 letters, 516 telegrams and 77 money orders sent
from the post office. In 1894 the first timber mill was established
and in 1898 the first freehold settlers. As the mining and timber
industries expanded so did the population. By 1907 the population
was 3000 and Greenbushes was established as a mining and timber
town. Today many of the attractions of Greenbushes reflect this
history.
There are many things to see and do in
Greenbushes so do come and visit us, explore our wonderful past and
how we have used this history to build a future that welcome guests
to our regional town of Greenbushes.
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