Countdown to 150-year celebrations begins

This Monday marks one year to the day until Roebourne, the oldest gazetted town in the NW turns 150 years old.

To celebrate the lead up to this historic event the Pilbara News will be publishing a series of feature articles about the history of Roebourne, the families who live there and some unique insights into how Roebourne came to be what it is today.

The first European settlers, Emma Withnell and her family, arrived on Ngarluma land in 1864 and set up camp at the base of Mount Welcome.

On August 17, 1866 government resident Robert John Sholl declared the camp a town and named it in honour of WA’s first surveyor general John Septimus Roe.

Roebourne has had a colourful and at times chequered history, from its pastoral beginnings to becoming a service centre for the North West to today, where it is recognised as the historic heart of the City of Karratha.

Since the days of the old reserve Roebourne, also known as Ieramugadu, has grown into a meeting point for indigenous language groups from all corners of the Pilbara, and a lot of hard work has been put in to celebrate indigenous culture in the town.

If you have any ideas, information or pictures about past or present Roebourne you believe may assist us, email us at news@pilbaramedia.com.au, call 9185 2666 or drop into our office at 3/20 Hedland Place, Karratha.