Early Town Settlement
Looking across the railway yard towards Clive Street – 1901
Katanning was declared a town on June 10, 1898 by Commissioner of Crown Lands, George Throssell when blocks of land were made available for sale.
DECLARATION OF KATANNING AS A SETTLEMENT
First Blocks Offered in 1908
Great Southern Herald
15 January, 1954 (p3)
By notice which appeared in the Government Gazette on June 10, 1898, the classification of Katanning as a townsite was announced by the then Commissioner of Crown Lands, George Throssell. Thee advertisement offered various town and suburban lots for sale, at prices ranging from £10 to £15 each.
In an effort to trace the original valuation of town lots in Katanning, an unsuccessful endeavour was made this week to obtain a copy of an old litho. Current lithos are not of any use, owing to the considerable amount of sub-division within the town and the consequent difficulty of tracing old lot numbers.
As far as can be ascertained, the blocks originally considered to be of greatest value included the land where the present offices of Elder, Smith and Co. Ltd. are located; the residential block occupied by Mr J. W. Old at the corner of Broome and Britannia Streets, and the block in Broome Street opposite the Britannia street junction; all those blocks on the north of Richardson Street (once Clyde Street) from the C.W.A. Hall to the two corner blocks of the Cove Street intersection; and the seven blocks on the south side of Clive Street from where the Commonwealth Bank now stands to (possibly) the Rovers Cafe.
ORIGINAL NOTICE
The following notice is taken from the Government Gazette of June 10, 1898:
We are indebted to Mr Robert Stephens of Albany, who furnished the copy of the
TOWNSITE OF KATANNING
New Town and Suburban Lots open for Sale.
Department of Lands and Surveys,
Perth,
12th May, 1898.
His Excellency the Governor in Executive Council, by virtue of the powers given him by the Land Regulations, has been pleased to order that the Crown Lands included within the area hereinafter particularised be classed as Town and Suburban, to form a Townsite on the Great Southern Railway, hereinafter to be known and distinguished as “Katanning”:
Bounded on the North by a line bearing East for 24 chains, starting from a point 1 chain East from the South-East corner of Kojonup Location 189; on the North-East by a line bearing 135°27’57 chains 16 links; on the East by a line bearing 180°0’61 chains 25 links; on the South by a line bearing 270°4′, crossing the Great Southern Railway, and measuring 41 chains 98 links to a point on the Western side of the Great Southern Railway Reserve; thence Southward along the said Railway Reserve 13 chains 22 links, and thence 270°0’24 chains 38 links; on the South-West by a line bearing 315°27’99 chains 21 links; on the North-West by a line bearing 45°27′, re-crossing the Great Southern Railway, and measuring 51 chains 50 links to a point on the Eastern side of the Great South ern Railway Reserve, and along it bearing 135°27’1 chain 77 links thence 45°27’10 chains 50 links; thence 360°0’1 chain 96 links; thence 89°57’28 chains 67 links to the starting point.
The allotments already surveyed are numbered as follows:
Town -1 to 435 inclusive.
Suburban
-1 to 30 inclusive
Town Lots 14, 15, 28, 51, 52, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 81, 100, 101, 139, 142, 176, 177, 199, 205, 206, 207, 208, 222, 223, 247, 248, 264, 265, 289, 334, 335, 336, 337, 344, 354, 398, 399, 406, 407, 411, 412, 413, 414, 416, 417, 418, 419, 420, 422, 423, 424, 425, 426, 432, 433, 434, 435, and Suburban Lot 91 have been reserved. Town Lots 53, 421, 427, 428, 429, 430, 431 have been temporarily reserved.
The upset prices at which allotments within this Townsite will be offered for sale by public auction, as provided by the Land Regulations, will, for the present, be as follows:
£10 each – Lots 1 to 13 inclusive, 16, 70, 71, 72, 86 to 96 inclusive, 106 to 116 inclusive, 127 to 138 inclusive, 140, 141, 143 to 153 inclusive, 192 to 196 inclusive, 212 to 221 inclusive, 224 to 239 inclusive, 257 to 263 inclusive, 266 to 288 inclusive, 290 to 318 inclusive, 321 to 333 inclusive, 338 to 343 inclusive, 345 to 353 inclusive, 355 to 360 inclusive, 366 to 377 inclusive, and 415.
£15 each – 60, 61, 186, 187, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 240 to 246 inclusive.
£12 each
– All other lots not numerated, with the exception of reserves and temporary
reserves.
The lots now open for sale will be sold under the conditions applying to Suburban Lands (12 months to complete payment and two years to fence external boundaries).
Plans of the same, showing the arrangement of the lots referred to, are now obtainable at this Office, and at the Government Land Agents’ Offices, Katanning and Albany.
GEO THROSSELL,
Commissioner of
Crown Lands.
Early Town Settlement. Early Town Settlement. Early Town Settlement.