Dongara - Places to see

Dongara Heritage Trail

The visitor wishing to inspect the buildings of historic importance in Dongara should obtain a copy of the Dongara Heritage Trail from the Old Police Station and Court House Building (now the Dongara–Denison Tourist Centre) in Waldeck Street. The Heritage Trail is particularly good covering seventeen points of interest in Dongara. The highlights include Priory Lodge, the Royal Steam Roller Flour Mill, Russ Cottage, the Old Police Station and Court House, the Church of St John the Baptist and the gracious houses in Hunts Road.

Priory Lodge
Priory Lodge, a magnificent old building with a very chequered history which was built as an inn in 1881, sold to the Dominican Sisters in 1901, became a boarding college in 1926 is now, through some ironic twist of fate, once again a private hotel.

Royal Steam Roller Flour Mill
On the outskirts of town (and clearly visible from the Brand Highway) is the Royal Steam Roller Flour Mill which was built in 1894 and served the local wheat growing community until its closure in 1935.

Russ Cottage
Russ Cottage, on Point Leander Drive, is a charming old cottage which was constructed in 1868. It was built by Titus Russ, a labourer for Edward Hamersley, and is regarded as a fine example of worker housing from the period. Unfortunately it is only open on Sundays and public holidays between 2.00 p.m. and 4.00 p.m. However visitors at other times can walk around the beautifully maintained gardens.

Old Police Station and Court House
The Old Police Station and Court House was constructed in 1870 out of local limestone and jarrah timber which had been shipped in from the south. Its construction cost was £1260. The policeman at the time, a certain Constable Watson, was responsible for the ticket–of–leave men in the area who were working for the local wheat farmers.

The old cells are open for inspection (they were still in use as recently as 1981) and the Courtroom is an awesome construction with a 5.5 metre ceiling. The Courtroom replaced the local Irwin Arms as the seat of justice in the area. The first case was heard in 1871 and involved an ex-convict, Thomas Barker, who was fined five shillings for 'making use of obscene language at the cricket ground at Dongarra on 10th April, 1871'. Note that somewhere in the last 120 years the town has lost an 'r'.

Church of St John the Baptist
The Church of St John the Baptist on the corner of Waldeck and Church streets was built in 1884 out of locally quarried limestone. It is said that the church bell came from Fremantle Gaol and was originally used to call ticket-of-leave men back to the gaol at night. The pews were made from the driftwood from shipwrecks.

Port Denison
To the south of Dongara is Port Denison - an attractive port for fishermen (especially crayfishermen) with a good marina and harbour. Originally known as Port Irwin the settlement really came to life with the construction of a jetty at the bottom of William Street (the ruins are still to be seen) in 1867. The jetty was built by a Perth businessman, Benjamin Mason, who used both convict and free labour. The total cost was £1350. A second jetty was built in 1959 and a third one was completed, as part of the marina, in 1979. The Port Denison marina has a capacity of about 130 vessels and, as such, is one of the largest marinas on the Western Australian coast.

Modern day Port Denison still has a number of buildings to remind visitors of its importance as a port for the Central West during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. There's Pearse's Warehouse (on the corner of William Street and Point Leander Drive) which was built in 1867. Further along Point Leander Drive is Moore's Warehouse which was completed in 1869 and on the foreshore, near the original jetty, is the Government Bond Store which was built in 1894.