Dundas Road Board Offices

Statement of Significance

Aesthetic: It is significant in exhibiting particular aesthetic characteristics. Historic: It is significant in the evolution or pattern of the history of the local district. Social: It is significant through association with a community or cultural group in the local district for social, cultural, educational or spiritual reasons. Rarity: It demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of the cultural heritage of the local district. Representativeness: It is significant in demonstrating the characteristics of a class of cultural places or environments in the local district.

History

In 1895, following the discovery of rich goldfields in the area, Norseman was formally Gazetted as a town site, and soon after the Dundas Road Board was formed.(1353, 1354) Although initially based in the town of Norseman, in 1929 it was reported that, due to a local mining depression, the Dundas Road Board had decided to construct new offices in the rapidly growing town of Salmon Gums.(1355) In December 1933 a tender for construction was awarded to Bernard Pantall, and by early 1934 the new Dundas Road Board offices had been completed.(1356, 1357) Following the inception of the idea, the fates of both Norseman and Salmon Gums townships had however somewhat reversed, and suddenly the population of Salmon Gums was declining on the back of the Great Depression while the mining boom in Norseman was again gaining momentum. At a meeting held on August 23, 1934, locals decided to petition the Government to re-establish a Road Board presence in Norseman as “...a mining community could not be satisfactorily administered by a Road Board composed of a majority of farmer members some 60 miles distant”. Accordingly, later that same year, the former Road Board offices in Norseman were reinstated and reconditioned for use as the main offices of the Dundas Road Board, which effectively left their new offices at Salmon Gums as an isolated and abandoned outpost.(1358) In 1938, a Country Women’s Association branch was formed in Salmon Gums which sought to use the “building previously occupied by the Dundas Road Board as offices”, and thereafter the building was used primarily as headquarters for the local CWA.(1359) Two years later, it was noted that only every fourth meeting of the Dundas Road Board was now held in Salmon Gums.(1360) A boundary realignment in 1989 saw Salmon Gums secede from the now Shire of Dundas to join the Shire of Esperance, and as jurisdiction of the district was now with the Shire of Esperance, the land and buildings were accordingly transferred in the same year.(1361) To date, the former Dundas Road Board Offices still see use from the Salmon Gums community and the Salmon Gums CWA.

Integrity/Authenticity

Integrity: Low Authenticity: Medium

Condition

Fair

Uses

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update