Bridgetown, Western Australia

The area was originally known as Geegelup, which was believed to mean "place of gilgies" in the Noongar language, referring to the fresh water lobster that inhabits the area. However recent research suggests the actual meaning of Geegelup may be "place of spears".

In 1852, A.C. Gregory made the original survey of the Geegelup area and in 1857, Edward Godfrey Hester (now honoured in nearby Hester) and John Blechynden settled there. In 1861, convicts built the road from Donnybrook into the area.{{cite web|url=http://www.bridgetown.wa.gov.au/tourism/heritage|title=Tourism – Heritage|author=Shire of Bridgetown-Greenbushes|access-date=3 November 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061005151510/http://www.bridgetown.wa.gov.au/tourism/heritage|archive-date=5 October 2006}} In 1864 the Geegelup Post Office was established in a building on Blechynden's property. A basic police station that had existed since c1862 was substantially reconstructed by former convict, Joseph Smith on the south bank of the Blackwood River in mid 1867. Mounted Constable Abraham W. Moulton was the first permanently appointed policeman.Bridgetown Historical Society

The townsite was surveyed in April 1868 by Thomas Carey, who proposed the name Bridgetown for two reasons – "as it is at a bridge and the Bridgetown was the first ship to put in at Bunbury for the wool from these districts", and was approved and gazetted on 9 June 1868.{{LandInfo WA|c|B|17 January 2007}}{{cite web |title=Register of Heritage Places – Assessment Documentation: Bridgetown Post Office |url=http://inherit.stateheritage.wa.gov.au/Admin/api/file/c40e103c-cfd4-507f-3c5d-9d3fcfbe7674 |publisher=Heritage Council of Western Australia |access-date=29 May 2019 |location=Perth, WA |date=2 September 1997}}

From then until about 1885, many buildings including the primary school (1870), post office, new police station (1880) and two hotels were constructed, many of which are still standing today. In 1885, the Bridgetown Agricultural Society was formed and local farmers produced sheep, cattle, dairy products, timber, fruit and nuts. The building boom in Western Australia during the gold boom of the 1890s saw an increased demand for sawn timber, and numerous mills opened in the Bridgetown area. The coming of the railway in 1898 enabled quick access to markets for the many orchardists and helped establish the beginning of a tourist industry.

Until the 1980s, the land surrounding Bridgetown was almost exclusively used for broadacre agriculture and improved pasture. From the late 1970s, the area became increasingly attractive to tourists as a tranquil and picturesque country town an accessible distance from Perth. Some people, attracted by the area's aesthetic qualities and rural lifestyle moved to the town permanently, which resulted in a strong demand for residential and hobby farm allotments, at a time when there was a coincident global downturn in agricultural markets. Many farmers sold up, and much of the most aesthetically pleasing land was subdivided and sold. The demographic change had a profound impact on the town's industry, replacing demand for farm services with demand for services in the tourism and recreation sectors. However, the dramatic increase in infrastructure such as housing, roads and power reticulation detracted from the rural aesthetic that attracted the influx in the first place.{{cite journal | doi = 10.1111/1467-8470.00161 |author1=Tonts, Matthew |author2=Greive, Shane | year = 2002 | title = Commodification and creative destruction in the Australian rural landscape: the case of Bridgetown, Western Australia | journal = Australian Geographical Studies | volume = 40 | issue = 1 | pages = 58–70}}

Bridgetown is the seat of the Shire of Bridgetown-Greenbushes and the centre of a productive agricultural district. Many buildings in the town centre are over a century old. The town has a Jigsaw Gallery and Museum, which claims to host the only jigsaw collection of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere, and also a primary school (1870) and high school (1962), district hospital, telecentre, shire offices, roadhouse, agricultural showground, shopping facilities, accommodation for travellers (hotel/motel, B&Bs, caravan park) and numerous picnic spots along the Blackwood River. The rural residential area of Kangaroo Gully to the town's east has grown since the 1990s.

Each year, Bridgetown hosts many events,{{Cite web |url=http://www.bridgetown.com.au/events.asp |title=Whats on and Events Bridgetown Visitor Centre, Bridgetown Greenbushes Visitor Centre, Bridgetown Western Australia, Bridgetown Greenbushes Tourism, Accommodation, Tours, Events, Activities, Hire, Car Hire, Businesses |access-date=9 April 2007 |archive-date=5 July 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070705051820/http://www.bridgetown.com.au/events.asp |url-status=dead }} including:

• April: Easter Tennis Tournament
• May: Festival of Country Gardens{{cite web |url=http://www.countrygardens.com.au/ |title=Country Garden Holidays – South West, Australia |website=countrygardens.com.au |access-date=12 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070409080846/http://www.countrygardens.com.au/ |archive-date=9 April 2007 |url-status=dead}} (autumn)
• June to August: Bridgetown in the Winter Festival. Shops are adorned with blue lights, many events and workshops.
• October: Blackwood Marathon{{Cite web|url=http://www.mccays.com.au/theevent|title=Blackwood Marathon}}
• October: Blackwood Valley Wine Show{{Cite web |url=http://www.blackwoodvalleywine.asn.au/ |title=Blackwood Valley Wine Industry Association |access-date=2 April 2007 |archive-date=9 April 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070409020053/http://www.blackwoodvalleywine.asn.au/ |url-status=dead }}
• November: Bridgetown Garden Festival{{cite web |url=http://bridgetowngardenfestival.com.au/ |title=Bridgetown Garden Festival in Bridgetown,Southwest WA |website=bridgetowngardenfestival.com.au |access-date=12 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140125073015/http://bridgetowngardenfestival.com.au/ |archive-date=25 January 2014 |url-status=dead}}
• November: Blues at Bridgetown music festival{{cite web |url=http://www.bluesatbridgetown.com/ |title=Home |website=bluesatbridgetown.com}}
• November: Agricultural show (which traces its roots to the 1920s) (held on the last Saturday in November)
• November: Festival of Country Gardens (spring)

The town became the first place in Australia to ban the sale of energy drinks to persons under 18 in February 2023 for an initial trial period of four months. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-28/energy-drink-ban-under-18-bridgetown-wa/101899830

Bridgetown possesses a borderline warm/hot-summer mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csb/Csa) with warm, dry summers and mild, wet winters. Average maxima vary from {{convert|29.9|C}} in January to {{convert|15.8|C}} in July, while average minima fluctuate between {{convert|13.5|C}} in February and {{convert|4.8|C}} in July. Annual precipitation is rather low (averaging {{convert|720.1|mm|in|abbr=on}}), and is spread across 157.9 precipitation days. The town experiences 83.9 clear days and 134.2 cloudy days annually. Extreme temperatures have ranged from {{convert|46.1|C}} on 8 February 1933 to {{convert|-5.7|C}} on 17 June 2006.{{cite web |url = https://www.farmonlineweather.com.au/climate/station.jsp?lt=site&lc=9617 |title = Bridgetown Climate (1998-2024) |website = FarmOnline Weather |access-date = September 27, 2024}}{{cite web |url = https://www.farmonlineweather.com.au/climate/station.jsp?lt=site&lc=9510 |title = Bridgetown Comparison Climate (1901-2012) |website = FarmOnline Weather |access-date = September 27, 2024}}

{{Weather box

|location = Bridgetown ({{coord|33.95|S|116.13|E}}, 179 m AMSL) (1998-2024 normals, extremes to 1907)

|metric first = Yes

|single line = Yes

|Jan record high C = 43.5

|Feb record high C = 46.1

|Mar record high C = 41.5

|Apr record high C = 36.9

|May record high C = 31.6

|Jun record high C = 24.6

|Jul record high C = 24.3

|Aug record high C = 26.6

|Sep record high C = 29.8

|Oct record high C = 35.8

|Nov record high C = 39.4

|Dec record high C = 41.5

|Jan high C = 29.9

|Feb high C = 29.8

|Mar high C = 27.3

|Apr high C = 23.4

|May high C = 19.6

|Jun high C = 16.7

|Jul high C = 15.8

|Aug high C = 16.4

|Sep high C = 17.8

|Oct high C = 20.4

|Nov high C = 24.5

|Dec high C = 27.8

|Jan low C = 13.1

|Feb low C = 13.5

|Mar low C = 12.1

|Apr low C = 9.3

|May low C = 6.8

|Jun low C = 5.3

|Jul low C = 4.8

|Aug low C = 5.2

|Sep low C = 6.1

|Oct low C = 7.1

|Nov low C = 9.3

|Dec low C = 11.1

|Jan record low C = 0.9

|Feb record low C = 0.5

|Mar record low C = -0.9

|Apr record low C = -2.2

|May record low C = -2.5

|Jun record low C = -5.7

|Jul record low C = -4.4

|Aug record low C = -3.9

|Sep record low C = -2.8

|Oct record low C = -2.2

|Nov record low C = -0.9

|Dec record low C = 0.0

|precipitation colour = green

|Jan precipitation mm = 14.3

|Feb precipitation mm = 12.9

|Mar precipitation mm = 21.3

|Apr precipitation mm = 49.5

|May precipitation mm = 95.1

|Jun precipitation mm = 107.8

|Jul precipitation mm = 127.1

|Aug precipitation mm = 117.9

|Sep precipitation mm = 86.0

|Oct precipitation mm = 43.7

|Nov precipitation mm = 31.4

|Dec precipitation mm = 16.5

|year precipitation mm = 720.1

|unit precipitation days = 0.2 mm

|Jan precipitation days = 3.7

|Feb precipitation days = 3.5

|Mar precipitation days = 6.0

|Apr precipitation days = 11.7

|May precipitation days = 18.7

|Jun precipitation days = 21.9

|Jul precipitation days = 24.6

|Aug precipitation days = 23.5

|Sep precipitation days = 19.3

|Oct precipitation days = 12.8

|Nov precipitation days = 7.5

|Dec precipitation days = 4.7

|Jan afthumidity = 34

|Feb afthumidity = 33

|Mar afthumidity = 38

|Apr afthumidity = 48

|May afthumidity = 59

|Jun afthumidity = 67

|Jul afthumidity = 69

|Aug afthumidity = 65

|Sep afthumidity = 62

|Oct afthumidity = 57

|Nov afthumidity = 45

|Dec afthumidity = 37

|Jan dew point C = 8.9

|Feb dew point C = 9.1

|Mar dew point C = 8.8

|Apr dew point C = 9.2

|May dew point C = 9.6

|Jun dew point C = 8.8

|Jul dew point C = 8.2

|Aug dew point C = 8.2

|Sep dew point C = 8.3

|Oct dew point C = 9.0

|Nov dew point C = 9.1

|Dec dew point C = 8.3

|source 1 = Bureau of Meteorology (1998-2024 normals, extremes to 1907){{cite web

|url = http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw_009510_All.shtml

|title = Bridgetown Comparison Climate Statistics (1907-2012)

|publisher = Bureau of Meteorology

|access-date = September 27, 2024}}

}}

• Emily Barker, singer-songwriter
• Jon Doust, author and comedian
• Robyn McSweeney, politician
• Tom O'Dwyer, cricketer
• David Reid, politician
• Deborah Robertson, novelist and poet
• Fred Riebeling, politician
• Len Pascoe, cricketer
• Bruce Maslin, botanist

File:Bridgetown_main_street_02.jpg|Main street, Bridgetown, August 2007

File:Bridgetown landscape.jpg|A typical rural landscape in the vicinity of Bridgetown

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.bridgetownhistoricalsociety.org.au Bridgetown Historical Society]
• [http://www.bridgetown.wa.gov.au/ Shire of Bridgetown-Greenbushes]
• [http://www.bridgetown.com.au/ Bridgetown-Greenbushes Visitor Centre]
• [http://www.bluesatbridgetown.com Blues at Bridgetown]
• [http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw_009510.shtml Bridgetown's climate statistics]

{{Towns South West WA}}

{{authority control}}

Category:Blackwood River

Category:Shire of Bridgetown–Greenbushes