Located 125 km south of Perth, Yarloop is basically an historic timber town. The area was first settled in 1849 when Joseph Logue selected land on what became known as Logue Brook and he was followed in 1886 by John Bancells and W. J. Eastcott.
The real development of the area occurred in 1894 when Charles and Edwin Millar moved into the district to exploit the potential that the substantial stands of jarrah offered. Already they had successfully exported jarrah blocks to London to be used for street paving and they were starting to realise the huge potential of hardwood timber. They established their operations at Wagenup and proceeded to build their own timber town with accommodation and necessary support facilities. They constructed their own railway line which they joined at a place which became known as Yarloop.
A year later the Millars established a number of timber mills at Denmark (q.v) to the south which shipped out timber to all corners of the globe.
No one knows exactly how Yarloop got its name but it was either from the fact that the location was at a point of a Œyard loop¹ or because the Yalup Brook was nearby.
Not everyone who arrived to work in the mill wanted to live in the Millar¹s town. Land was cleared and the non-company town people established themselves on the western side of the railway. Thus Yarloop grew up as two towns on either side of the railway line - one a company town, one a public town.
In 1901 Millars made Yarloop the central workshop for their entire milling operations in South East Western Australia. At their peak Millars companies (they amalgamated in 1902 under the name Millars Karri and Jarrah Company) employed over 500 people in the Yarloop area.
Millars continued to grow throughout the early years of this century. By the 1930s they boasted the largest private railway in the world with eight railway systems and 25 locomotives.
Today Yarloop offers a rare opportunity to experience what a turn of the century timber mill town was actually like. So well preserved have been most of the buildings associated with Millars operations that in 1984 the National Trust classified the Yarloop mill town as a conservation area.
Things to see
Yarloop Heritage Trail
There is an excellent Heritage Trail booklet, Yarloop Heritage Trail, which is, as the booklet says Œa leisurely one hour walk of 2.5 km highlighting historical buildings and sites that characterise the unique nature of this turn-of-the-century timber mill town.¹
The Heritage Trail concentrates entirely on the mill town that the Millar brothers created. It starts at the Replica Store which was built in 198788 as a reproduction of the original store which was built in the 1890s on the same site. It then moves along to the Mill Cottages in McDowell Street which date from the 1890s, passes the remnants of the Old Wooden Pub (now a private home) which was Yarloop¹s first pub and was built in 1903 and the Old Mill Post Office (now a private home) which was built in 1898. In Johnston Road it passes St Joseph¹s Catholic Church (1906), the Mill Doctor¹s Residence and Hospital in Barrington-Knight Road, then across to the Mill Manager¹s Complex and the Single Men¹s Quarters which were built by the Millars in the 1890s.
At the two ends of School Road there are the Mill Cottages and All Saints Anglican Church, a simple timber building which was constructed in 1912.
The circuit of the old mill town returns into Railway Parade to the Mill Boarding House (1890s) which was used by executive staff and visitors from Perth, the War Memorial (erected in 1922) and concludes with the highlight of any visit to the old town - the Yarloop Mill Workshops which operated from 1901-1978
It was in the Yarloop Mill Workshops that the maintenance of all the Millars rolling stock took place. These workshops which, at their height employed 100 people, are a unique insight into the working of a steam engine and sawmill maintenance yard. There is a saw shop, sand shop, mill store, blacksmith¹s shop, boilermaker¹s shop, truck shop, chaff shed, and main workshop with its engine room, coppersmith, pattern room, and foundry.
The Yarloop Heritage Trail is a wonderfully interesting and informative walk into the past of the whole south west¹s timber industry.
