WARail & telegraph
Manjimup
The railway opened the forest country to markets.
1910Town gazetted · railway and timber centre
WHAT STARTED IT
Manjimup was planned as a town serving the South West’s timber forests and agricultural hinterland. Gazettal in 1910 anticipated the railway opening the following year, connecting the district more effectively to markets.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
Timber cutting shaped employment and the surrounding landscape. Group Settlement in the 1920s brought farming families and land clearing. Fire lookout trees later became distinctive evidence of the forest industry’s workings.
TURNING POINTS
1910Town gazetted.
1911Railway opens.
1920sGroup Settlement expands district farming.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
A regional centre for forest and farming country, with horticulture and heritage attractions preserving its timber-town story.