Wagin, Western Australia

Wagin is a place and a Shire in the Great Southern region of Western Australia. It is located about 225 km south-east of Perth.

Etymology

The place and the Shire were named after the nearby Lake Wagin. The word derives from the Wagin Aboriginal language from, and its meaning is unclear, but it is believed that he place where the emus means sprinkle or that he "wedge - on " is a variation of the Aboriginal word that means Emus.

History

John Septimus Roe in 1835, was the first European explorer in the area. At that time he was on the road between Perth and Albany. Between 1885 and 1889, the first European settlers arrived in the region. The place was built with the expansion of the Great Southern Railway. The place was initially called Wagin Lake, but in 1898 Wagin was officially founded and renamed from Wagin Lake in Wagin.

Today's Wagin

Nowadays Wagin is one of the most important cities in the Southern Wheatbelt region. The agricultural exhibition Woolorama, one of the most prominent in Western Australia is, every year in March in Wagin instead.