Pingelly

The town was originally a railway siding along the Great Southern Railway line, built by the Western Australian Land Company, and opened in 1889. Later the same year the company designed the town and made land available. In 1896 the state government purchased the railway and the land and gazetted the townsite in 1898. Its name is Aboriginal in origin and is the name of the Pingeculling Rocks found to the north of the town. The name was first recorded in 1873, and the original settlers referred to the area as Pingegulley for years before the town was gazetted.{{LandInfo WA|c|P|6 April 2013}}

In early 1898 the population of the town was 89, 52 males and 37 females,{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article33153441 |title=Population of Western Australia|newspaper=Western Mail|location=Perth|date=22 April 1898|access-date=6 April 2013|page=23 |publisher=National Library of Australia}} however this isn't accurate, as this does not include Aboriginal people.{{Cn|date=January 2021}}

Tenders for the construction of the local agricultural hall were advertised in late 1893,{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3056195|title=Classified Advertising.|newspaper=The West Australian |location=Perth |date=23 December 1893 |access-date=5 October 2013 |page=2 |publisher=National Library of Australia}} the contract was awarded to Thorne, Bower and Stewart in early 1894.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article33103236 |title=News of the week |newspaper=Western Mail |location=Perth |date=20 January 1894 |access-date=5 October 2013 |page=34 |publisher=National Library of Australia}} The hall was opened in September of the same year with a tamar hunt and a ball to mark the occasion.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3067051 |title=The opening of Pingelly Hall|newspaper=The West Australian|location=Perth |date=26 September 1894|access-date=5 October 2013 |page=2 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}

Between 1939 and 1941 three motor racing meetings were held annually in the town, including the Great Southern Flying 50,{{cite book|last1=Walker|first1=Terry|title=Fast Tracks - Australia's Motor Racing Circuits: 1904-1995|date=1995|publisher=Turton & Armstrong|location=Wahroonga, NSW|isbn=0908031556|page=132}} using a circuit which went in a clockwise direction.{{cite web|last1=Galpin|first1=Darren|title=Pingelly|url=http://www.silhouet.com/motorsport/tracks/pingelly.html|website=GEL Motorsport Information Page|access-date=3 April 2016}} The last event, won by Harley Hammond in his Marquette Special was the final motor sport event held in Western Australia before racing stopped due to World War 2.

In the 2016 Census, there were 809 people in Pingelly. Of these 50.4% were male and 49.6% were female. The median age of people in Pingelly was 52 years. Children aged 0–14 years made up 16.8% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 29.7% of the population. 73.5% of people were born in Australia.{{Census 2016 AUS |id=SSC51232 |name=Pingelly (State Suburb) |access-date=2021-09-24 |quick=on }}

The shire includes over 1,100 residents living both in town and on rural properties, and is a key agricultural centre, with wheat, barley, sheep and cattle farming being the main activities. Pingelly contains a primary school, Bendigo Bank, shopping facilities (IGA supermarket, chemist, post office, specialty shops, arts and craft shop, hospital auxiliary op shop), accommodation (hotels, B&B, caravan park), golf course and council offices, and a Community Resource Centre is located within the town. A school bus ferries high school students to Narrogin. Each year two market days with a wide range of items are held in May and October.

The Shire of Pingelly has built a new{{timeframe|date=January 2021}} recreation and community centre as well as new{{timeframe|date=January 2021}} aged appropriate accommodation.

The town is a stop on the Transwa bus service from Perth to Albany.[http://www.transwa.wa.gov.au/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=YGriJHIwVZk%3d&tabid=149&portalid=0&mid=753 GS2 timetable]{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, TransWA, effective 1 August 2016. Accessed 13 June 2018.

The Pingelly Health Service is part of the Upper Great Southern Health Services, and includes a 24/7 medical centre facility as well as a general practitioner. Silver Chain offers home help, gardening, respite and other aged care services. Narrogin Regional Hospital remains the primary centre servicing the Upper Great Southern area.

{{Weather box

|location = Pingelly

|metric first = Yes

|single line = Yes

|Jan record high C = 44.4

|Feb record high C = 46.2

|Mar record high C = 40.5

|Apr record high C = 36.7

|May record high C = 33.3

|Jun record high C = 24.3

|Jul record high C = 22.8

|Aug record high C = 26.4

|Sep record high C = 32.9

|Oct record high C = 37.0

|Nov record high C = 41.2

|Dec record high C = 43.0

|year record high C = 46.2

|Jan high C = 32.0

|Feb high C = 31.4

|Mar high C = 28.5

|Apr high C = 24.2

|May high C = 19.8

|Jun high C = 16.5

|Jul high C = 15.5

|Aug high C = 16.2

|Sep high C = 18.6

|Oct high C = 22.6

|Nov high C = 26.6

|Dec high C = 30.3

|year high C = 23.5

|Jan low C = 15.6

|Feb low C = 16.0

|Mar low C = 14.7

|Apr low C = 11.8

|May low C = 8.7

|Jun low C = 6.5

|Jul low C = 5.5

|Aug low C = 5.7

|Sep low C = 6.5

|Oct low C = 8.5

|Nov low C = 11.5

|Dec low C = 13.9

|year low C = 10.4

|Jan record low C = 6.9

|Feb record low C = 6.4

|Mar record low C = 3.2

|Apr record low C = 1.3

|May record low C = 0.4

|Jun record low C = -1.6

|Jul record low C = -2.5

|Aug record low C = -1.2

|Sep record low C = -1.6

|Oct record low C = -1.1

|Nov record low C = 2.1

|Dec record low C = 4.5

|year record low C = -2.5

|precipitation colour = green

|Jan precipitation mm = 11.3

|Feb precipitation mm = 14.0

|Mar precipitation mm = 18.1

|Apr precipitation mm = 27.0

|May precipitation mm = 57.0

|Jun precipitation mm = 80.6

|Jul precipitation mm = 81.0

|Aug precipitation mm = 62.7

|Sep precipitation mm = 40.3

|Oct precipitation mm = 24.6

|Nov precipitation mm = 15.3

|Dec precipitation mm = 12.2

|year precipitation mm = 443.3

|Jan precipitation days = 2.1

|Feb precipitation days = 2.4

|Mar precipitation days = 3.4

|Apr precipitation days = 5.8

|May precipitation days = 10.3

|Jun precipitation days = 14.1

|Jul precipitation days = 15.4

|Aug precipitation days = 13.3

|Sep precipitation days = 10.8

|Oct precipitation days = 7.2

|Nov precipitation days = 4.2

|Dec precipitation days = 2.5

|year precipitation days = 91.9

|humidity colour=green

|Jan humidity = 27

|Feb humidity = 29

|Mar humidity = 34

|Apr humidity = 43

|May humidity = 53

|Jun humidity = 61

|Jul humidity = 63

|Aug humidity = 59

|Sep humidity = 54

|Oct humidity = 42

|Nov humidity = 33

|Dec humidity = 27

|year humidity = 44

|source 1 = {{cite web

| url = http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw_010626_All.shtml

| publisher = Bureau of Meteorology |title = Climate statistics for Pingelly |access-date = 12 July 2014}}

|date=July 2014

}}

• Nicky Winmar
• Tim English
• Leroy Jetta

{{reflist}}

• [http://www.pingelly.wa.gov.au/ Shire of Pingelly]
• {{commons category-inline}}

{{Towns Wheatbelt South WA}}

{{authority control}}

Category:Towns in Western Australia

Category:Grain receival points of Western Australia

Category:Shire of Pingelly