Sites of Three Timber Jetties

Statement of Significance

Historic Value: The place is associated with the early development of the timber shipping industry in Rockingham, and the development of Rockingham as a port.
The site has social value for the many members of the community who used the
jetties for recreation

Physical Description

The site of the three timber jetties is located on the beachfront at Mangles Bay at the end of Railway Terrace. The original jetties are no longer extant.

History

Although the town of Rockingham was surveyed in 1847, the town and its surrounds experienced only minimal development until the 1870s. It was the settlement in East Rockingham that was more established in the mid-19th century. Rockingham did have a small jetty built in 1869, approximately thirty feet long, into the waters of Cockburn Sound which enabled the delivery of supplies to the settlers in the district. In 1872, a new, longer deep sea jetty was built at Rockingham to ship timber sourced from the adjacent forests. The Rockingham Jarrah Timber Company was the driving force in the development of the timber industry in the region. The company was originally formed in the eastern states and went through many owners, management structures and names during its existence.
The timber was sent to Rockingham Port on a wooden-railed tramway which was roughly aligned with the present day Patterson Road. The tramway continued onto the jetty to enable loading directly onto the ships tied up to the jetty. The timber rails were inefficient and were replaced with iron rails in 1878. By 1882, the timber trade was booming and another jetty was built on the eastern side of the existing jetty.
Rockingham was largely a port town in the 19th century with few other buildings in the townsite. A large lot near the jetties was used by the company for the stacks of timber ready for export. Rockingham port was the leading exporter of timber in the mid-1880s but a period of worldwide economic decline led to a lessening in demand for timber.
In the early 1890s, with the discovery of gold at Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie the economy of Western Australia boomed, with timber exports from Rockingham increasing and exceeding earlier quantities. In 1898, the third and longest jetty was built at Rockingham, to the east of the existing jetties.
The opening of a railway line from Bunbury to Perth and hence to Fremantle in 1893 limited the timber trade in Rockingham. It was now easier and cheaper to supply the metropolitan market for timber by rail to Perth or Fremantle rather than railing it to Rockingham and then lightering it to Perth or Fremantle. The completion of deep-water harbour facilities at Fremantle in 1897 was a significant factor in the downturn of exports from Rockingham.
In 1902, the Rockingham Railway Jarrahdale Jarrah Forests Company became part of the combine of timber mills trading under the name of Millars' Karri and Jarrah Company 1902) Limited. The 'Combine' accessed ports all along the coastline and despite efforts to continue the timber trade from Rockingham Port it was no longer economically viable and the port ceased to function in 1908.
The first and second jetties had disintegrated by the 1930s and the largest jetty, often referred to as 'Millars Jetty' was in a seriously degraded state in the 1940s. In 1950, the jetty was reconstructed for the owner, George Grigg by his sons, Reg and Ragy Grigg. The railway lines along Railway Terrace were also removed in the 1950s as part of the shift toward improving the town as a holiday destination.
The jetty was reopened in December 1950 with the arrival of the S.S. Emerald from Perth with a boatful of holiday makers. George Grigg had many businesses in Rockingham catering to visitors to the town. This jetty slowing disintegrated in the following decades and the final structures were removed in 2009.
In the early 1960s, a smaller pedestrian jetty was constructed at the base of Val Street. This jetty has been developed in stages since that time and is the location of the current jetty.

Condition

Site Only

Uses

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update

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