WAPlanned settlement
Augusta
An anxious colony planted a town at Cape Leeuwin.
1830Colonial settlement founded · south-west outpost
WHAT STARTED IT
British concern about French interest in the coast encouraged settlement of Western Australia’s south-west. Sixty settlers landed at Augusta in May 1830, seeking farms beyond the already-claimed Swan Valley.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
Poor soils, dense forest and unreliable supply defeated most early farms. Timber revived the district in the 1870s, with karri shipped from nearby bays; rail arrived in 1925 after group settlement expanded the hinterland.
TURNING POINTS
1830First 60 settlers land.
1870sCommercial hardwood industry develops.
1925Railway reaches Augusta.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
A small tourism, fishing and retirement town near Cape Leeuwin, with forestry and early-settlement traces behind its maritime character.