Banksiadale, Western Australia

Banksiadale is a locality and former town in the Peel region of Western Australia north of Dwellingup. Its local government area is the Shire of Murray.HistoryBanksiadale is named after the plant genus Banksia, as the area consists of jarrah forest with unusually thick understorey of Banksia grandis (Bull Banksia). For over 50 years, the area was home to a small timber milling town.The Hotham Valley railway (operated by WAGR) was opened from Pinjarra to Dwellingup in 1910 to access the jarrah and marri timber in the area. In 1911, a site to produce timber for a wide range of general railway purposes was selected 8 km north of Dwellingup and a railway was opened to it in January 1912. The No. 2 Railway Mill was built in the same year and began operations in December 1912.By 1917, a network of railways covering 33 km of track extended from Banksiadale to the areas in which timber was being felled. In the year of 1926 alone, the Banksiadale mill produced 185,000 sleepers, and 6,347 other loads, of which the WAGR utilised a little more than 50%, the balance being sold or stacked.