Northam: An Avon Valley History by Donald S Garden

Book Description

Secondhand. Very good condition. Minor wear to book corners and edges. Dust jacket has some light creasing at edges and spine. Enclosed in protective plastic covering. Interior and binding are excellent.

The history of the Northam district of the Avon Valley, Western Australia.

The Avon Valley was an agriculturally rich area, and its settlement and development in the 1830s were critical to the survival of the Swan River Colony.

For many years the district supported only a handful of scattered properties and few British people, but from the 1880s, a village was established that became the centre of a prosperous and, for its size, remarkably influential farming and business community.

The opening of a railway line to Perth in the 1880s made Northam the centre of agricultural trading and commerce for the area. In the Gold Rush of the 1890s, Northam was made the starting point for the railway to the Goldfields, a decision that further stimulated the town's growth and enabled it to become the most important town in the Avon Valley. (book flap)