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History of country town names - H


The following information is a summary of the origins for towns names in rural Western Australia. Please select the first letter of the town you wish to see.
Please note: The names of all rural towns are being added progressively to the database.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

HALL POINT

Latitude 15° 41' S Longitude 124° 25' E

Hall Point is an obscure Townsite in the Kimberley district near Kuri Bay, about 200 km north, north east of Derby. It is not known why this townsite was gazetted in 1922 in such a remote location with no road access. It takes its name from the nearby feature, named by the Royal Navy Hydrographer, Phillip Parker King, in 1821, whilst surveying the area in the "Bathurst".


HALLS CREEK

Latitude 18° 14' S Longitude 127° 40' E

The Kimberley townsite of Halls Creek is located 2855 km north east of Perth on the Great Northern Highway. It was named after Charles Hall who, with John Slattery, prospected the vicinity in 1885 and found the alluvial and reef gold that led to the 1886 gold rush on the Kimberley Goldfield. Hall's name was first applied to the creek on which he found gold before being used for the townsite name. The gold rush led to around 6,000 men prospecting in the vicinity in 1886.
Townsite lots were laid out in 1887, but the townsite was not gazetted until 1894. It was first gazetted as Hall's Creek, but the apostrophe was officially removed in 1944. Because of frequent floods a new townsite of Halls Creek, situated about 12km westwards, was gazetted in 1949. The old townsite is now a popular tourist destination.


HAMEL

Latitude 32° 52' S Longitude 115° 55' E

Situated 3 km south of Waroona in the south west, Hamel was gazetted a townsite in 1899. It was named in compliment to Mr Lancal V de Hamel, the former owner of the land where the townsite is situated. De Hamel was a prominent Member of Parliament, the former MLA for Albany, and had passed away at Coolgardie on 26th of November 1894. The land for the townsite was purchased from de Hamel's estate in 1898 and subdivided by the Department of Lands and Surveys.


HARRISMITH

Latitude 32° 56' S Longitude 117° 52' E

The townsite of Harrismith, located 67 km east of Narrogin in the Great Southern region, was gazetted in 1915. The townsite was declared to take advantage of growth in the area which came about as a result of the government constructing a railway line from Yillimining to Kondinin in 1914. The government had decided to name the siding here "South Dorakin", but the name was strongly objected to by local residents. They suggested the name Harrismith, after Harry Smith, the name of the first settler in this vicinity. The name was approved in 1914.


HARVEY

Latitude 33° 05' S Longitude 115° 54' E

Harvey townsite is located in the south west 140 km south of Perth. It derives its name from the nearby Harvey River, which was named by Governor Stirling in 1829, soon after the river's discovery by explorers Collie and Preston in 1829. Although not positively known, the river is most likely named after Rear Admiral Sir John Harvey RN, Commander in Chief of the West Indies Station in 1818. Stirling was in command of the "Brazen" in those waters at the time, and Harvey recommended him for promotion. Stirling named a number of Western Australian features after his former navy colleagues.
Harvey was developed as a private town in the 1890s following the opening of a railway station there in 1893. In 1926 the Harvey Road Board sought the declaration of a townsite, but this did not occur until 1938.


HESTER

Latitude 33° 55' S Longitude 116° 10' E

The townsite of Hester is located about 7 km north north west of Bridgetown. It was gazetted a townsite in 1899, and was originally a siding on the Donnybrook to Bridgetown railway, opened in 1898. The town derives its name from the nearby Hester Brook, a name first recorded by surveyor John Forrest in 1866. Hester Brook is named after Edward Godfrey Hester, an early settler (late 1850's) of the Bridgetown district.


HIGGINSVILLE

Latitude 31° 45' S Longitude 121° 43' E

Higginsville is an abandoned Goldfields townsite, located about 58 km north of Norseman on the railway between Norseman and Kalgoorlie. It was gazetted a townsite in 1907 and is believed to be named after the prospector, Patrick Justice Higgins, born Toodyay 1864, died Geraldton 1924.


HIGHBURY

Latitude 33° 03' S Longitude 117° 14' E

Highbury is a townsite in the Great Southern Region, 16 km south, south east of Narrogin. It was originally gazetted in 1905 as Wolwolling, taking its name from the railway siding established here in 1894. The siding name was derived from the Aboriginal name of a pool in the nearby Arthur River.
In June 1905 the Wolwolling Progress Association applied to have the townsite renamed, claiming the name was too similar to other names, and letters and parcels were going astray. The new name suggested was "Linton". This name was rejected because of duplication, and in 1906 the Progress Association nominated Highbury as their next choice. No origin was given with the name, although it is most likely English, as there are a number of Highburys in England. The name change was gazetted in 1906.


HILLMAN

Latitude 33° 19' S Longitude 116° 48' E

Hillman is a townsite in the Great Southern region, located about 8 km north east of Darkan. It was gazetted in 1907, taking its name from the railway siding established here in 1906 when the railway line from Narrogin to Darkan was opened. The siding was named after the nearby Hillman River, named by Governor Stirling in 1837 after Alfred Hillman, an early draftsman and explorer who arrived in the colony in 1831.


HINES HILL

Latitude 31° 32' S Longitude 118° 04' E

The townsite of Hines Hill is located on the Great Eastern Highway between Merredin and Doodlakine, 240 km east of Perth. The railway line from Northam to Southern Cross was constructed through here in 1893-4, and this section opened for traffic in January 1895. Hines Hill was one of the original stations when the line opened, and the government subdivided land in the area. The townsite is named after the siding, and was gazetted in 1910.

Hines Hill is a nearby physical feature, and C.W. Massingham, a very early settler in the Merredin district, has stated that this feature was named after Jack Hines who collected sandalwood around there. Massingham recorded the Aboriginal name for this hill as "Baandui". Other records show the name as Bainding.


HOLT ROCK

Latitude 32° 41' S Longitude 119° 25' E

The townsite of Holt Rock is located in the eastern agricultural region 74 km from Hyden. It takes its name from the nearby feature of the same name. The feature was named by the explorer Frank Hugh Hann in August 1901 when he was on a trip from Menzies to Ravensthorpe. Hann possibly named it after G H Holt, a Draftsman in the Lands & Surveys Department. He named other features on this trip after employees of the Department. The townsite was gazetted in 1939.


HOPETOUN

Latitude 33° 57' S Longitude 120° 07' E

The townsite of Hopetoun is located on the south coast south of Ravensthorpe. As there appeared to be no Aboriginal name for the area, the surveyor surveying the townsite in 1900, Surveyor G. Reilly, suggested it be named Hopetoun, after the Earl of Hopetoun, first Governor General of Australia (1900). The Earl was Rt Hon John Adrian Louis Hope, 7th Earl of Hopetoun, KT, GCMG, GCVO, PC. He was Governor-General 1901-1903. He was born at Hopetoun in Scotland.
The town came about as a result of the discovery of gold and copper near Ravensthorpe in 1899, and the proclamation of the Phillips River Mining District. The miners soon took advantage of the area's close proximity to the coast at Mary Ann Haven (also referred to as Mary Ann Harbour or Mary Ann Cove) , 40 km south, and some businesses and residences were established there in 1900. Lots were surveyed in 1900, and the townsite gazetted in 1901. A railway connecting Hopetoun and Ravensthorpe was opened in 1909.


HORSESHOE

Latitude 25° 27' S Longitude 118° 35' E

Horseshoe is an abandoned Goldfields townsite near Peak Hill in the Peak Hill Goldfield. Gold was discovered in this vicinity in 1897, and in 1898 the Government considered the creation of a townsite. A surveyor selected a site in 1898, but local dissatisfaction with the position meant that an alternative area was used, and the townsite was not gazetted until 1901. Originally, this place was a gold mining area known as "Horseshoe Bend" because the first leases followed the spine of a horseshoe shaped ridge there. The area where the townsite developed was known as "Horseshoe", a name sometimes shortened to "the Shoe".


HOWATHARRA

Latitude 28° 32' S Longitude 114° 38' E

The townsite of Howatharra is located about 30 km north of Geraldton in the northern agricultural district. Land in this vicinity was opened up for farming in the early 1900s, and a railway siding named Howatharra (Webb's Siding) was established here in 1908. It was gazetted a townsite in 1909. Howatharra is the Aboriginal name of a nearby water source, Howatharra Spring. It is shown as Howetparrah Well on a 1872 map of the area.


HYDEN

Latitude 32° 27' S Longitude 118° 55' E

The townsite of Hyden is located 339 km east of Perth in the central agricultural region. Land in this vicinity was opened for farming in the 1920s, and in 1930 the government constructed a railway from Kondinin to Hyden Rock. Demand for land at the railway terminus resulted in gazettal of the Hyden townsite in 1932. It is named after the nearby Hyden Rock which was first shown on maps in 1921. It is not known at present who the rock was named after.

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