Pilbara historical timeline

Short description: Timeline of region in Western Australia

This timeline is a selected list of events and locations of the development of the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

Date  | Event  | Location  | Notes

|
|
|

1818 | Captain Phillip Parker King surveyed the coastline, naming the Intercourse Islands and Nickol Bay | Dampier |
1861 | Francis Thomas Gregory and his party explore the Nickol Bay area, naming Port Walcott, the Hardey River, the De Grey River and the Fortescue River |  |
April 1863 | Captain Peter Hedland discovers Mangrove Harbour (Port Hedland) | Port Hedland |
April/May 1863 | Charles Nairn, at the behest of his brother-in-law, pastoralist and entrepreneur Walter Padbury, establishes the first sheep station in the region. | De Grey River. |
May 1863 | Tien Tsin Harbor [sic] (known later as Cossack) is established | Tien Tsin Harbor [sic] |
September 1863 | Sherlock Station selected by John Wellard | Sherlock Station |
1864 | Mount Welcome Station established by the Withnells | Mount Welcome Station |
1864 | Cooya Pooya Station established by Thomas Lockyer[citation needed] | Cooya Pooya |
1865 | Pyramid Station established by the Richardson Brothers for the Portland Squatting Company | Pyramid Station |
1865 (November) | The first permanent government office in the region is established, headed by R. J. Sholl, Government Resident for the North District. Sholl has been relocated from the short-lived settlement at Camden Harbour [sic] (on the north coast of the Kimberley). | Mount Welcome/Harding River |
1866 | On the recommendation of surveyor Charles Wedge and R.J. Sholl, the region's first townsite, named Roebourne, is gazetted, adjoining the government camp, Mt Welcome and the Harding River. | Roebourne |
1869 | Pardoo Station established as an outstation of De Grey Station | Pardoo Station |
1872 | Copper discovered west of Whim Creek | Whim Creek |
1872 | Mundabullangana Station established by the MacKays | Mundabullangana |
1872 | Chirritta Station established by the Donald Norman McLeod. | Chirritta |
1878 | Minderoo Station established by the Forrest brothers and Septimus Burt | Minderoo |
1878 | Yarraloola Station established by the Woolhouses | Yarraloola |
1879 | Croydon Station established by the Robinsons | Croydon Station |
1886 | Yarrie Station established by Christopher Coppin | Yarrie Station |
1887 | Gold discovered at Mallina, east of Whim Creek | Mallina Station |
1887 | First tramway opened, 2’ gauge and horse drawn, between Cossack and Roebourne | Roebourne[1] |
1890 | Gold discovered, in Coongan River bed | Marble Bar |
1891 | Emu Creek Station established | Emu Creek Station |
1893 | Marble Bar town site gazetted |  |
1893 | Marronah Station established by J. H. Mansfield | Maroonah |
1894 | Cyclone kills 45 people at sea | Port Hedland |
1896 | Townsite of Port Hedland gazetted | Port Hedland |
1896 | Warrawagine Station established. | Warrawagine |
1898 | Cyclone causes £30,000 worth of damage to Cossack |  |
1899 | Townsite of Nullagine gazetted | Nullagine |
1905 | Mining starts at Wodgina mine site south of Port Hedland |  |
1906 | Alfred Canning commences surveying Canning Stock Route |  |
1909 | Townsite of Point Samson gazetted | Point Samson |
1910 | Canning Stock route completed droving of first cattle commences |  |
July 1911 | Railway opened connecting Port Hedland with Marble Bar | Marble Bar Railway |
1937 | Asbestos mined at Yampire Gorge, near Wittenoom | Wittenoom |
1938 | Government surveyors, Finucane and Telford, surveyed Mount Goldsworthy and reported the iron content of the ore at 65.66% with estimated reserves of more than 6,000,000 tons |  |
1946  | The Pilbara Strike takes place  |  |
1950 | Townsite of Wittenoom gazetted | Wittenoom |
November 1952 | Lang Hancock flies over the Pilbara region |  |
December 1960 | Australian Government changes restrictions on iron ore exports | Australia wide |
March 1961 | Western Australian government announces that iron ore exploration permits will be allowed | Western Australia |
September 1962 | CRA geologists identify Mount Tom Price deposits | Mount Tom Price |
1964 | Oil was discovered in commercial quantities by West Australian Petroleum Pty Ltd | Barrow Island |
January 1965 | Dampier and Mount Tom Price - construction commences at locations |  |
February 1965 | Construction commences on the town of Goldsworthy | Goldsworthy |
June 1965 | Dampier - Tom Price railway works commence | Hamersley Iron |
1966 | Asbestos mine closed at Wittenoom Gorge | Wittenoom |
1966 | Rio Tinto opens its first iron ore mine in the Pilbara | Mount Tom Price mine |
July 1966 | Tom Price to Dampier - first fully loaded ore train |  |
August 1966 | Dampier - first shipment of ore loaded |  |
1967 | Iron ore discovered at Mount Whaleback | Newman |
May 1967 | Hamersley Holdings Limited shares on the Australian Securities Exchange |  |
1968 | BHP establishes an iron ore mine near Newman | Mount Whaleback |
August 1969 | Development of community at Karratha begins |  |
July 1970 | East Intercourse Island connected by causeway |  |
1971 | Townsite of Wickham gazetted | Wickham |
1972 | Cape Lambert port opened | Cape Lambert |
1972 | Townsite of Newman gazetted | Newman |
1972 | Townsite of Paraburdoo gazetted | Paraburdoo |
1972 | Townsite of Pannawonica gazetted | Pannawonica |
1972 | Dampier Salt commences operations | Dampier |
1974 | North West Coastal Highway from Geraldton to Port Hedland completely sealed |  |
December 1975 | Cyclone Joan - flooding in Pilbara and damages Hamersley Rail |  |
October 1977 | Tom Price, Paraburdoo, Dampier and Karratha combined population passes 15,000 |  |
1978 | Meekatharra to Newman section of Great Northern Highway upgraded. | Great Northern Highway |
1981 | WAPET discovers gas off the Pilbara coast with the drilling of the Gorgon 1 well | Gorgon gas project |
1984 | North Rankin A Gas Platform commissioned | North West Shelf |
1989 | Newman to Port Hedland section of Great Northern Highway upgraded. | Great Northern Highway |
1989 | BHP opens iron ore mine near Newman | Jimblebar mine |
January 1990 | Rio Tinto Group opens iron ore mine in Hamersley Range | Channar mine |
1992 | Rio Tinto opens another iron ore mine in Hamersley Range | Brockman 2 mine |
December 1993 | BHP opens another iron ore mine near Shay Gap | Yarrie mine |
1994 | Rio Tinto opens another iron ore mine in Hamersley Range | Marandoo mine |
1995 | Goodwyn A gas platform commissioned | North West Shelf |
2004 | Rio Tinto opens another iron ore mine in Hamersley Range | Eastern Range mine |
2006 | Indee Gold Mine opens at Mallina, east of Whim Creek and is closed in 2008 | Mallina |
2007 | Rio Tinto opens another iron ore mine in Hamersley Range | Hope Downs mine |
March 2007 | Wittenoom townsite officially abolished by gazettal | Wittenoom |
October 2007 | Fortescue Metals Group begins mining iron ore in the Chichester Range | Cloud Break mine |
April 2008 | First train runs on Fortescue railway | Fortescue railway |
June 2009 | Fortescue Metals Group opens new iron ore mine in the Chichester Range | Christmas Creek mine |
September 2010 | Rio Tinto opens another iron ore mine in Hamersley Range | Brockman 4 mine |

## See also

* Kimberley historical timeline
* Regions of Western Australia

## References

1. ↑ "Cossack". Hamersley News (Western Australia) XI (3): p. 12. 9 February 1978. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article214558391. Retrieved 23 September 2023.

## Further reading

* Hamersley Iron (1985) Diary titled Hamersley Iron. The Pilbara Flora Collection 1984. The 18th Year of Hamersley Iron Hamersley Iron Pty Ltd Perth, WA.
* Oakley, Glenda.(1992) More dates! : a Western Australian chronology 1930 to 1989 Northbridge, W.A. Friends of Battye Library occasional paper; no. 3 ISBN 0-646-10780-1
* Trengrove, Alan (1976) Adventure in iron / Hamersley's First Decade Melbourne, Stockwell Press. ISBN 0-909316-03-1 (Hamersley Chronology on end-pages)

0.00

(0 votes)

Original source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilbara historical timeline. Read more

|

Retrieved from "https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Earth:Pilbara_historical_timeline&oldid=896513"