Wongan Hills, Western Australia

The area was settled by the 1900s, and in 1911 the town was gazetted and named after the range. "Wongan" is derived from the Indigenous Australian name "wangan-katta", "wanka" and "woongan". "Katta" is known to mean "hill", but the meaning of "wongan" is uncertain. It may be related to "kwongan", an indigenous word for sandplain, or "whispering", in which case "wongan katta" would mean "whispering hills" (katta is a word for hill).{{LandInfo WA|c|W|2007-05-25}}

In the early 1900s, poet Lilian Wooster Greaves lived with her family at Wongan Hills. Her book of poetry includes a number of prose and poetry items relating to living there at the time of World War I.{{Citation | author1=Greaves, Lilian Wooster | title=Wongan way | publication-date=1927 | publisher=[L.W. Greaves?] | url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/18239334 | access-date=11 October 2012 }}

Wongan Hills became the terminus of the railway line from Goomalling, which opened in 1911. The line was extended from the town to Mullewa railway line in 1915.{{cite web |title=Railway map of Western Australia, 1952 |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-256867901/view |website=Trove |access-date=24 August 2024}}{{Citation |last1=Gunzburg |first1=Adrian |last2=Austin |first2=Jeff |author3=Rail Heritage WA |last4=Gunzburg |first4=Adrian |title=Rails through the bush : timber and firewood tramways and railway contractors of Western Australia | date=2008 | publisher=Rail Heritage WA | edition=2nd | isbn=978-0-9803922-2-7 }} {{cite web|url=https://www.arcinfra.com/ARCInfrastructure/media/documents/Network%20Specifications/20221129_Arc_Map_Network.pdf|title=Arc Map Network|website=www.arcinfra.com|publisher=Arc Infrastructure|access-date=24 August 2024}}

In 1925, an agricultural research station was established about 5 km north of the town, which assisted in the diversification of and improvements in farm practices through the state.

The area is a prosperous agricultural region with activities focused on sheep, grain and pig-farming.{{cite web|url=http://www.australiasgoldenoutback.com/en/Wheatbelt/Towns/Wongan+Hills/default.htm|title=Australia's Golden Outback – Wongan Hills|year=2006|access-date=2008-08-26|archive-date=3 August 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080803055015/http://www.australiasgoldenoutback.com/en/Wheatbelt/Towns/Wongan+Hills/default.htm|url-status=dead}}

Construction of a grain silo commenced in 1933 as part of the bulk handling scheme that had been introduced by the government and managed by Cooperative Bulk Handling.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article33308807|title=Country news|newspaper=The West Australian|location=Perth|date=6 September 1933|access-date=7 April 2013|page=6 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}

As part of Easter celebrations in 2009, a {{convert|1.8|by|1.1|km|mi|1|adj=on}} cross was laid out in a bare paddock using 460 half-tonne hay bales with the aid of GPS receivers. The cross was set alight on Good Friday night and was the end of a pilgrimage conducted on Easter Saturday.{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/site-archive/rural/news/content/200904/s2538100.htm|title=Farmers construct huge straw cross for Easter service|website=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |year=2009|access-date=2017-08-03}}

Wongan Hills historically had a Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csa) however drying associated with widening of the Hadley cell has shifted the area in recent times to a hot semi-arid climate (BSh).Seidel, Diane J., Qiang Fu, Randell, William J. and Reichler, Thomas J.; 'Widening of the tropical belt in a changing climate', Nature, (2008), volume 1, pp. 21–24 The climate is similar to Northern Hemisphere areas on the southern Mediterranean Sea, such as Tripoli or Gaza City, though Wongan Hills' inland location produces hotter, less arid summers and cooler winters than those localities. Summers are hot to sweltering and generally arid, though occasionally tropical cyclones from the Indian Ocean will affect the region after moving inland, whilst winters are comfortable with cold nights and occasional showers.

{{Weather box

|location = Wongan Hills|width=75%

|metric first = Yes

|single line = Yes

|Jan record high C = 47.4

|Feb record high C = 47.0

|Mar record high C = 43.5

|Apr record high C = 39.7

|May record high C = 34.7

|Jun record high C = 27.5

|Jul record high C = 25.4

|Aug record high C = 32.4

|Sep record high C = 35.4

|Oct record high C = 39.5

|Nov record high C = 43.2

|Dec record high C = 45.0

|year record high C = 47.4

|Jan high C = 34.8

|Feb high C = 34.2

|Mar high C = 31.0

|Apr high C = 26.5

|May high C = 21.7

|Jun high C = 18.2

|Jul high C = 17.2

|Aug high C = 18.0

|Sep high C = 20.9

|Oct high C = 25.4

|Nov high C = 29.3

|Dec high C = 32.7

|year high C = 25.8

|Jan mean C = 26.3

|Feb mean C = 26.2

|Mar mean C = 23.7

|Apr mean C = 19.9

|May mean C = 15.7

|Jun mean C = 13.0

|Jul mean C = 11.8

|Aug mean C = 12.3

|Sep mean C = 14.2

|Oct mean C = 17.7

|Nov mean C = 21.2

|Dec mean C = 24.2

|year mean C = 18.9

|Jan low C = 17.9

|Feb low C = 18.2

|Mar low C = 16.4

|Apr low C = 13.4

|May low C = 9.9

|Jun low C = 7.7

|Jul low C = 6.6

|Aug low C = 6.7

|Sep low C = 7.7

|Oct low C = 10.1

|Nov low C = 13.2

|Dec low C = 15.9

|year low C = 12.0

|Jan record low C = 9.8

|Feb record low C = 8.5

|Mar record low C = 5.5

|Apr record low C = 2.8

|May record low C = −0.6

|Jun record low C = −0.8

|Jul record low C = −0.9

|Aug record low C = −0.5

|Sep record low C = 0.5

|Oct record low C = 0.5

|Nov record low C = 3.4

|Dec record low C = 6.8

|precipitation colour=green

|Jan precipitation mm = 14.8

|Feb precipitation mm = 16.1

|Mar precipitation mm = 21.0

|Apr precipitation mm = 21.9

|May precipitation mm = 50.6

|Jun precipitation mm = 68.3

|Jul precipitation mm = 69.2

|Aug precipitation mm = 52.2

|Sep precipitation mm = 29.0

|Oct precipitation mm = 19.8

|Nov precipitation mm = 13.2

|Dec precipitation mm = 9.7

|year precipitation mm = 386.2

|Jan precipitation days = 2.1

|Feb precipitation days = 2.4

|Mar precipitation days = 3.0

|Apr precipitation days = 4.9

|May precipitation days = 8.7

|Jun precipitation days = 12.3

|Jul precipitation days = 13.6

|Aug precipitation days = 12.3

|Sep precipitation days = 8.6

|Oct precipitation days = 5.9

|Nov precipitation days = 3.5

|Dec precipitation days = 2.0

|year precipitation days = 79.3

|Jan humidity = 24

|Feb humidity = 28

|Mar humidity = 31

|Apr humidity = 38

|May humidity = 48

|Jun humidity = 56

|Jul humidity = 58

|Aug humidity = 55

|Sep humidity = 47

|Oct humidity = 34

|Nov humidity = 28

|Dec humidity = 26

|year humidity = 39

|source 1 = {{cite web

| url = http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw_008137_All.shtml

| publisher = Bureau of Meteorology |title = Climate statistics for Wongan Hills|access-date = 13 July 2014}}

|date=July 2014

}}

{{reflist|30em}}

{{commons category-inline}}

• [http://www.wongan.wa.gov.au/ Shire of Wongan-Ballidu]

{{Towns Wheatbelt South WA}}

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Category:Towns in Western Australia

Category:Wheatbelt (Western Australia)

Category:Grain receival points of Western Australia