68-459: The Jadira are a people and territory in the Pilbara region of Western Australia . It was mentioned by Norman Tindale in his classic ethnographic map of Australian tribes. The status of Jadira in the sense defined by Tindale has been recently questioned by Paul Burke. Tindale described the tribal boundaries of some 3,600 square miles (9,300 km) of land belonging to a "Jadira" people, in
136-600: A cell-like morphology , were chemically analysed, revealing that they used sulphur for fuel. An extinct genus of stromatolite-forming cyanobacteria , Pilbaria , was named after the region, where the type specimen was found. The Pilbara region, under the Pilbara Development Commission, contains four local government areas : According to the Pilbara Aboriginal Language Centre Wangka Maya ,
204-476: A movement with around 20 similar schools established in northern Western Australia by the mid-1990s. Jan Richardson , wife of Victorian Aboriginal activist Stan Davey , wrote a biography of McLeod as a doctoral thesis . In 2006, it was estimated that 15% of the population of the Pilbara identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people , approximately 6000 people. Many Pilbara communities face
272-518: A number of different places. Many have poor infrastructure, and relations between police and Aboriginal people are often tense. The climate of the Pilbara is arid and tropical . It experiences high temperatures and low irregular rainfall that follows the summer cyclones . During the summer months, maximum temperatures exceed 32 °C (90 °F) almost every day, and temperatures in excess of 45 °C (113 °F) are not uncommon. Winter temperatures rarely drop below 10 °C (50 °F) on
340-440: A warm but humid sea breeze. Port Hedland is very sunny, averaging over 10 hours of sunshine per day annually and being in the sunniest region of Australia, receiving around 218.9 clear days annually. Dewpoint in the warmer months typically ranges from 19 to 22 °C (66.2 to 71.6 °F). Annual rainfall (falling almost exclusively between December and June) averages 311.5 mm (12.26 in) but because of erratic cyclones
408-499: Is 30% higher than the Western Australian average. The Blackrock Stakes was a 122 km race from Goldsworthy to Port Hedland in which competitors, either in teams or as individuals, push wheelbarrows weighed down with iron ore . It was first run in 1971, and competitors pushed a wheelbarrow full of iron ore from a remote mine site into Port Hedland. After that the race grew to raise more than $ 1 million for charity as
476-685: Is able to accommodate ships over 250,000 tonnes. In 2013, finance was being raised for yet another iron ore mine, railway and port, this time for the Roy Hill project. It requires a 344 km railway. With the neighbouring ports of Port Walcott and Dampier , Port Hedland is one of three major iron ore exporting ports in the Pilbara region. On 31 December 1968, a Vickers Viscount operated by MacRobertson Miller Airlines crashed at nearby Indee Station . The plane had flown from Perth without incident until about 10 minutes before landing at Port Hedland. The aircraft suffered catastrophic failure of
544-403: Is about 7 every 10 years. Due to the low population density in the Pilbara region, cyclones rarely cause large scale destruction or loss of life. The area is known for its petroleum , natural gas and iron ore deposits, which contribute significantly to Australia's economy. Other than mining, pastoral activities as well as fishing and tourism are the main industries. The Pilbara's economy
612-410: Is dominated by mining exports and petroleum export industries. During the 1970s the area was known for union militancy with many strikes and some mines operating as fully unionised 'closed shops.' This was challenged by employers from the mid-1980s onwards and the region now has a very low level of union membership compared to other parts of Australia. Most of Australia 's iron ore is mined in
680-477: Is managed by the Pilbara Ports Authority, a state government instrumentality. The Port Authority's headquarters, control tower and heliport are at Mangrove Point, just to the west of The Esplanade at the western end of Port Hedland. The tugboat pen, customs office and public jetty are at nearby Laurentius Point. The harbour's wharves are located on both sides of the harbour: Finucane Island to
748-673: Is more than the mean annual rainfall. The high summer temperatures experienced in Port Hedland mean that most tourists to the area choose to visit in the cooler months between May and September. According to the Bureau of Meteorology , the Western Pilbara , including Port Hedland is the sunniest place in Australia; being the only place to record an annual average of more than 10 hours a day of sunshine. Port Hedland's harbour
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#1732773069624816-440: Is moved by railway from four major iron ore deposits to the east and south of the Port Hedland area. The port exported 519,408,000 tonnes (1.1 trillion pounds) of iron ore (2017–2018). Other major resource activities supported by the town include the offshore natural gas fields, salt, manganese, and livestock. Major deposits of lithium are being developed and exploited south of the town as well. Grazing of cattle and sheep
884-423: Is subject to some of the largest variations in annual precipitation in the world. As an illustration, in 1942, 1,040 millimetres or 40.94 inches fell, but two years later in 1944 only 32 millimetres or 1.26 inches fell and the town went for over 300 days with no rain. The town received record daily rainfall on 27 January 1967 when a total of 387.1 millimetres or 15.24 inches of rainfall was recorded for 24 hours, which
952-711: Is the Roebourne coastal sandplain, which supports most of the region's population in towns and much of its industry and commerce. The eastern third is almost entirely desert, and is sparsely populated by a small number of Aboriginal people. The two areas are separated by the inland uplands of the Pilbara Craton , including the predominant Hamersley Range , which has numerous mining towns, the Chichester Range , and others. The uplands have many gorges and other natural attractions. The Pilbara contains some of
1020-415: The 2021 census , including the satellite town of South Hedland , 18 kilometres (11 mi) away. It is also the site of the highest tonnage port in Australia. Port Hedland has a natural deep anchorage harbour which, as well as being the main fuel and container receival point for the region, was seen as perfect for shipment of the iron ore being mined in the ranges located inland from the town. The ore
1088-552: The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics , as of 2010 , that resource is being used up at a rate of 324 million tonnes a year, with rates expected to increase over coming years. Experts Gavin Mudd ( Monash University ) and Jonathon Law ( Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation ) expect it to be gone within 30 to 50 years (Mudd) and 56 years (Law). As of 2010 , active iron ore mines in
1156-732: The Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA). The Pilbara region, as defined by the Regional Development Commissions Act 1993 and administered for economic development purposes by the Pilbara Development Commission, has an estimated population of 61,688 as of June 2018 , and covers an area of 507,896 square kilometres (196,100 sq mi). It contains some of Earth's oldest rock formations , and includes landscapes of coastal plains and mountain ranges with cliffs and gorges. The major settlements of
1224-670: The Manyjilyjarra language and "mingkirri" in the Warlpiri language ) which are circular patches of land barren of plants, varying between 2 and 12 metres (7 and 39 ft) in diameter and often encircled by a ring of stimulated growth of grass, are found in the western part of the Great Sandy Desert in the Pilbara. It has not yet been proven what causes these formations, but one theory suggests that they have been built and inhabited by Australian harvester termites since
1292-507: The Pleistocene . The Pilbara is home to a wide variety of endemic species adapted to this tough environment. There is a high diversity of invertebrates, including hundreds of species of subterranean fauna (both stygofauna and troglofauna ), which are microscopic invertebrates that live in caves, vugs or groundwater aquifers of the region, and terrestrial fauna (see short-range endemic invertebrates ). The Pilbara olive python ,
1360-497: The rangeland livestock (grazing/pastoral) industry or pearling ports . However, as natural mother of pearl beds around Cossack were fished out, the pearling fleet began to move northward, and by 1883 it was based at Broome, in the Kimberley region. From c. 1900 , pastoralism went into decline with the growth of other, more productive agricultural areas of the state. Mining in the region started on 1 October 1888, when
1428-562: The western pebble-mound mouse , and the Pilbara ningaui of the Hamersley Range are among the many species of animals within the fragile ecosystems of this desert ecoregion. Birds include the Australian hobby , nankeen kestrel , spotted harrier , mulga parrot and budgerigars . Wildlife has been damaged by the extraction of iron, natural gas and asbestos, but the protection of culturally and environmentally sensitive areas of
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#17327730696241496-760: The Jadira people and their territory were a misnomer, a phantom category, inexplicably created by Tindale on otherwise very thin evidence. The primary source for Tindale's thesis lies in a single reference to the Kau'arndhäri in a 1914 paper by Daisy Bates , where Bates names it as one of four western Pilbara tribes – the others being the Ngarluma, the Kariera , and the Martuthinira – whose class system, governing marriages, is, she claimed, identical. Bates does not mention
1564-549: The Jadira, and bore the sense of "belonging to the west". The only other information available to Tindale led him to suggest that some of the Jadira, a non-circumcising tribe, with the onset of European colonization, shifted eastwards to Ashburton Downs Station , while a second group moved to the mouth of the Fortescue River where they were assimilated into the Martuthinira . Traditionally, he added, their access to
1632-453: The Jadira, but Tindale drew the conclusion that it was the endonym of the Kau'arndhäri, on the basis of a report by Carl Georg von Brandenstein , who glossed the latter term by the former. Pilbara The Pilbara ( / ˈ p ɪ l b ər ə / ) is a large, dry, thinly populated region in the north of Western Australia . It is known for its Aboriginal people ; its ancient landscapes;
1700-538: The Pilbara Goldfield was officially declared – named after a local creek, the goldfield would later give its name to the region as a whole. It was later divided into the Nullagine Goldfield and Marble Bar Goldfield. However, gold mining began to decline in the Pilbara in the mid-1890s, after alluvial ore had been exhausted. In 1937, mining of asbestos commenced at Wittenoom Gorge . While
1768-636: The Pilbara are: A significant part of Pilbara's economy is based on liquified natural gas (LNG) through the North West Shelf Venture and Pluto LNG plant, both operated by Woodside. The region also has a number of cattle-grazing stations, and a substantial tourist sector, with popular natural attractions including the Karijini and Millstream-Chichester national parks and the Dampier Archipelago . The first railway in
1836-553: The Pilbara coast. The Aboriginal population of the Pilbara considerably predates, by 30,000 to 40,000 years, the European colonisation of the region. Archaeological evidence indicates that people were living in the Pilbara even during the harsh climatic conditions of the Last Glacial Maximum . The early history of the first people is held within an oral tradition , archeological evidence and petroglyphs . Near
1904-658: The Pilbara is now enhanced by the delineation of several protected areas, including the Millstream-Chichester and the Karijini National Parks . The western Pilbara is part of the Pilbara freshwater ecoregion , also known as the Pilbara-Gascoyne or Indian Ocean drainage basin. The freshwater region is characterized by intermittent rivers which form deep gorges, and brackish-water caves that host endemic species. The region includes
1972-535: The Pilbara region around 1900 have been described as slavery , with no wages paid, kidnapping as well as severe and cruel punishments for misbehaviour and absconding all common practices. Some incidents, such as the Bendu Atrocity of 1897, attracted international condemnation. The first strike by Indigenous people in Australia took place in 1946 in the Pilbara, known as the Pilbara strike or Pilbara Aboriginal strike, when Aboriginal pastoral workers walked off
2040-511: The Pilbara region was the narrow-gauge Marble Bar Railway between Port Hedland and Marble Bar . The Marble Bar Railway opened in July 1911 and closed in October 1951. The Roebourne-Cossack Tramway opened in 1897 and many industrial railways have been built to serve the mines. Five heavy-duty railways are associated with the various iron-ore mines. They are all standard gauge and built to
2108-416: The Pilbara's rainfall occurs between December and May, usually with occasional heavy downpours in thunderstorms or tropical cyclones. The period from June to November is usually completely rainless, with warm to very hot and sunny conditions. Like most of the north coast of Australia, the coastal areas of the Pilbara experience occasional tropical cyclones. The frequency of cyclones crossing the Pilbara coast
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2176-399: The Pilbara, with mines mostly centred around Tom Price and Newman . The iron ore industry employs 9,000 people from the Pilbara area. The Pilbara also has one of the world's major manganese mines, Woodie Woodie, situated 400 kilometres (250 mi) southeast of Port Hedland. Iron ore deposits were first discovered by prospector Stan Hilditch, who in 1957 found a large iron ore deposit in
2244-542: The area in April 1863 on board his boat Mystery , which he had built himself at Point Walter on the banks of the Swan River . He named the harbour Mangrove Harbour and reported that it would make a good landing site with a well protected harbour, and that there was also fresh water available. However, the port was initially regarded as unusable, due to a sandbar that frequently sealed the entrance and thick mangroves around
2312-547: The area was Francis Thomas Gregory in 1861. Within two years, European settlers had begun arriving. The region was regarded as part of the North West at first – a larger area that included the modern Kimberley and Gascoyne regions. Settlements along the coast at Tien Tsin Harbour (later Cossack), Roebourne and Condon (officially Shellborough; later abandoned) were established over ensuing decades, mainly as centres of
2380-416: The beach front, was formerly a single-men's quarters for Mount Newman Mining Co. The centre was privatised by the first Howard Ministry in the late 1990s. It was closed in 2004 due to the falling number of asylum seekers arriving by boat in Australia's north-west. The town mayor called for the federal government to allow the town to use the detention centre to accommodate the many new mine workers needed for
2448-456: The coast; however, inland temperatures as low as 0 °C (32 °F) are occasionally recorded. The Pilbara town of Marble Bar set a world record of most consecutive days of maximum temperatures of 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8 degrees Celsius ) or more, during a period of 160 such days from 31 October 1923 to 7 April 1924. The average annual rainfall in the region is between 200 and 350 millimetres (7.9 and 13.8 in). Almost all of
2516-467: The coastal waters lay through Nhuwala (which Tindale spelt Noala) territory, between the Cane and Robe rivers, a practice Tindale described as "trespassing". Aboriginal Legal Aid lawyer and Land Council lawyer Paul Burke re-examined Tindale's papers and sources when, with regard to a native title claim , he had to work out the precise boundaries for another tribe in this area. He came to the conclusion that
2584-562: The combined land area of the US States of California and Indiana . It has a population of more than 45,000, most of whom live in the western third of the region, in towns such as Port Hedland , Karratha , Wickham , Newman and Marble Bar . A substantial number of people also work in the region on a fly-in/fly-out basis. There are approximately 10 major/medium population centres and more than 25 smaller ones. The Pilbara consists of three distinct geographic areas. The western third
2652-469: The creek, and the name later became associated with the region. Radiocarbon dating estimates in evidence show that rock art and standing stones at Murujuga in the Dampier Archipelago , Australia's earliest known stone structures, believably dating from 6046 to 5338 BC, are of contextualization by thousands of years of unique cultural traditions and folklore . These sites have lived up as part of survival in present times. The first European to explore
2720-511: The drainages of the Murchison , Gascoyne , Ashburton , Fortescue , and De Grey rivers. The Great Sandy Desert, which covers the eastern Pilbara, has little freshwater habitat. 21°S 119°E / 21°S 119°E / -21; 119 Port Hedland Port Hedland ( Kariyarra : Marapikurrinya ) is the second largest town in the Pilbara region of Western Australia , with an urban population of 15,298 as of
2788-478: The early 1960s and built the towns of Goldsworthy and later Shay Gap as mine sites. A rail line was then built to Port Hedland, where dredging was undertaken to deepen and widen the port's channel, and a wharf was built opposite the township of Port Hedland on Finucane Island. Shipment of ore began on 27 May 1966, when the Harvey S. Mudd sailed from Port Hedland to Japan with 24,900 tonnes of ore. In 1967, iron ore
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2856-612: The following terms.3,600 sq. The Jadira occupied the areas about the middle sections of the Cane and Robe rivers, running south of Mount Minnie, and as far north as the Fortescue River . Their eastern frontier putatively fell short of the western scarp of the higher plateau of the Hamersley Ranges . Tindale also added a list of alternative names for these Jadira: These terms represented Ngarluma exonyma applied to
2924-543: The headland at Port Hedland in order to establish a town and requested that the Government build a jetty. In 1896, the Port Hedland town site was surveyed by government surveyor E.W. Geyer, who named the grid of streets after the pastoral pioneers, including Richardson, Withnell, Wedge and McKay streets, and in October 1896, the town site was gazetted. By 1905, the Roads Board had made considerable improvements to
2992-600: The health impacts caused by dust levels generated by Port activities. On April 13, 2023, Cyclone Ilsa , a large and destructive category 5 tropical cyclone, made landfall just east of the port city. Port Hedland has a hot desert climate ( Köppen BWh ) although subject to the influence of tropical cyclones . Port Hedland is very warm to sweltering all year round, with mean maximum temperatures of 36.4 °C (97.5 °F) in January and 27.1 °C (80.8 °F) in July. Maximum temperatures in summer are usually moderated by
3060-448: The heaviest North American standards. Rio Tinto runs driverless trains on its railways. The ports of the Pilbara are: The dominant flora of the Pilbara is acacia trees and shrubs and drought-resistant Triodia spinifex grasses. Several species of acacia (wattle) trees are endemic to the Pilbara and are the focus of conservation programs, along with wildflowers and other local specialities. " Fairy circles " (known as "linyji" in
3128-488: The large salt hills of Dampier Salt , a subsidiary of Rio Tinto . These large mounds have almost become a tourist attraction in their own right. Port Hedland is known by the Indigenous Kariyarra and Nyamal people as Marapikurrinya, which either means "place of good water" (as told by a Nyamal language speaker) and makes reference to the three reliable fresh water soaks that can still be seen in and around
3196-433: The main beach front. Several lookouts along the beach front path allow views of marine mammals including Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins , Indo-Pacific humpbacked dolphins and Australian snubfin dolphins . The Port Hedland Saltworks Important Bird Area is a 103 km tract of originally intertidal land, now containing a saltern, about 20 km east of the port of Port Hedland. The site regularly supports over 1% of
3264-611: The mangroves, and a practicable stockroute from there to the De Grey River . In 1866, the Government Resident at Roebourne , Robert John Sholl , directed Charles Wedge to re-examine Port Hedland as an alternative port, because the distance from Tien Tsin Harbour (later known as Cossack) was discouraging settlement in areas such as the De Grey River. Wedge encountered difficulties in his efforts, as he
3332-581: The many complex effects of colonisation, and lack adequate access to housing, health and education. A 1971 survey of 1000 Aboriginal people conducted by Pat McPherson found that most had one or more serious diseases. At the McClelland Royal Commission into British nuclear testing, Aboriginal people from the Pilbara provided evidence regarding the explosion on the Montebello Islands. Aboriginal communities are sited over
3400-582: The name for the Pilbara region derives from the Aboriginal word bilybara , meaning "dry" in the Nyamal and Banyjima languages. Another suggested origin is pilbarra , an Aboriginal word for the salt-water mullet found in local waters, reflected in the name of a tributary of the Yule River , Pilbarra Creek, which evolved to "Pilbara" Creek. The Pilbara Goldfield, discovered in 1885, was named after
3468-471: The port and as the story goes, "the coming of the big ships meant it was unable to stay". The coastline in the area was seen by European mariners as early as 1628, when the Dutch merchant ship Vianen , captained by Gerrit Franszoon de Witt visited. Swedish-born mariner Peter Hedland was the first European to note the harbour's existence and the possibility of using it as a port. Peter Hedland arrived in
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#17327730696243536-477: The presence of abundant iron ore had been known for about a century, it was not until the 1960s and the discovery of high-grade ore in the Hamersley Ranges that the area became pivotal to the state's economy, and towns built to accommodate mining and allied services boomed. In the 1950s, three British nuclear weapons tests were carried out in the Montebello Islands , 130 km (81 mi) off
3604-546: The prevailing red earth; and its vast mineral deposits, in particular iron ore . It is also a global biodiversity hotspot for subterranean fauna . At least two important but differing definitions of "the Pilbara" region exist. Administratively it is one of the nine regions of Western Australia defined by the Regional Development Commissions Act 1993 ; the term also refers to the Pilbara shrublands bioregion (which differs in extent) under
3672-535: The region are Port Hedland , Karratha and Newman . The three main ports in this region are Port Hedland, Dampier and Port Walcott . Under the Regional Development Commissions Act , Pilbara is situated south of the Kimberley , and comprises the local government areas of Shire of Ashburton, Shire of East Pilbara, City of Karratha Town of Port Hedland. The Pilbara region covers an area of 507,896 km (193,826 mi ) (including offshore islands), roughly
3740-494: The roads and streets. In 1909 port facilities were built, and in 1911 a rail link to Marble Bar commenced operation. On 30 July 1942 the town was bombed by the Japanese, killing one soldier at the local airfield. By 1946, approximately 150 people lived in the area. The population of the town in 1968 was about 3,000 people. Goldsworthy Mining developed an iron ore mine approximately 100 kilometres east of Port Hedland in
3808-473: The shore; further, the narrow entrance made the harbour difficult to enter in bad weather. Later in 1863, government surveyor Joseph Beete Ridley examined Mangrove Harbour while exploring the country between Nicol Bay and the Fitzroy River, describing it as "an excellent anchorage and perfectly landlocked". He named it Port Hedland after the master of Mystery . Ridley located a firm landing place above
3876-474: The southern Ophthalmia Range , at what was to become the Mount Whaleback mine . In the 1960s, it was reportedly called "one of the most massive ore bodies in the world" by Thomas Price, then vice president of US-based steel company Kaiser Steel. Geoscience Australia calculated that the country's " economic demonstrated resources " of iron amounted to 24 gigatonnes, or 24 billion tonnes. According to
3944-679: The spar in the right wing. The wing suddenly separated from the fuselage. All 26 on board, including both pilots and two flight attendants, were killed. In 1991, an immigration detention facility, the Port Hedland Immigration Reception and Processing Centre, was opened to deal with the arrival of boat people seeking asylum. Port Hedland was seen as a good location, as it is in an area where many asylum seekers arriving by boat were entering Australia, and it had an international airport that would allow for easy deportations when required. The detention centre, situated on
4012-489: The stations in protest at low pay and bad working conditions, a strike that lasted for over three years. Family clans in the Pilbara who were supported by mining prospector, Don McLeod , developed skills for mining and the concentration of rare metals . For a short period money accumulated, which according to Aboriginal law was to be used for traditional ways. Eventually the funds were used to establish an independent Aboriginal-controlled school. The concept has expanded into
4080-412: The town of Dampier is a peninsula known as Murujuga , which contains a large collection of World Heritage-listed petroglyphs, dating back thousands of years. Rock art in the Pilbara appears to have been mainly etched into the hard rock surfaces, whereas on the softer sandstone in the Kimberley rock paintings predominate. Working conditions in the pearling and pastoral industries for Aboriginal people in
4148-579: The town's mining boom. A lack of accommodation made it difficult for companies to operate efficiently, as they were unable to house staff or consultants within the town's small number of hotels. The centre is now operating as the Beachfront Village. In October 2019 the state government announced an Improvement Plan would be imposed over the West End of Port Hedland. The purpose of the plan was to prohibit all future residential development due to
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#17327730696244216-406: The town, or as the town council's website says "refers to the hand like formation of the tidal creeks coming off the harbour (marra - hand, pikurri - pointing straight and nya - a place name marker)". According to Dreamtime legend, there was a huge blind water snake living in the landlocked area of water known as Jalkawarrinya. This landlocked area is now the turning basin for the ships that enter
4284-565: The west and Port Hedland to the east. Access by oceangoing vessels into and out of the harbour is via a narrow curved channel. The current control tower was opened in 2019. The area contains five primary schools (four government, one Catholic), along with Hedland Senior High School , Port Hedland School of the Air and the Cassia Education Support Centre. Port Hedland has a flatback sea turtle rookery, located on
4352-727: The world populations of red-necked stints and sharp-tailed sandpipers , as well as a population of the range-restricted dusky gerygone . Species that have strongly declined since the 1980s are broad-billed sandpipers , Asian dowitchers , curlew sandpipers , red-necked avocets , banded stilts , Oriental plovers , Oriental pratincoles and white-winged black terns . Other species present include Australian bustards , bush stone-curlews , western bowerbirds , painted finches and canary white-eyes . Estuaries such as Pretty Pool support mangroves , marine fish, and birds. Pollution from iron ore dust regularly exceeds national standards. The local hospitalisation rate for respiratory infections
4420-420: The world's oldest surface rocks, including the ancient fossilised remains known as stromatolites and rocks such as granites that are more than three billion years old. In 2007, some of the oldest evidence of life on Earth was found in 3.4 billion-year-old sandstones at Strelley Pool , which preserve fossils of sulphur -processing bacteria. The mineralised spheres, which were found on an ancient beach and have
4488-459: Was discovered at Mount Whaleback , and a mining venture was undertaken that included the establishment of a new town, Newman , 426 km of rail from the mine to the port and the development of processing equipment at both Newman and Port Hedland. In 1986, at a cost of $ 87 million, the existing channel was dredged to allow larger ships to enter the port. Prior to dredging, the port was only able to load vessels of less than 2,000 tonnes, but today it
4556-619: Was formerly a major revenue earner for the region, but this has slowly declined. Port Hedland was also formerly the terminus for the WAGR Marble Bar Railway , which serviced the gold mining area of Marble Bar from July 1911 until closure on 31 October 1951. The locomotive from the Port Hedland to Marble Bar rail service is now preserved at the Kalamunda Historical Village in the south of the state. Located between Port Hedland and South Hedland are
4624-472: Was hampered by heavy rain and the tidal creeks around Mangrove Harbour and was unable to reach the proposed port site to survey its suitability. In 1891, exploration of the area by Tom Traine, John Wedge (son of Charles Wedge) and Syd Hedley identified two landings and described the harbour as "pretty as well as safe". In September 1895, Cossack residents requested the District Surveyor survey
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