Ajana is a townsite within the Shire of Northampton in

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. It is located at the junction of Ajana-Kalbarri Road and Ajana Back Road, by road north of

Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...

, by road southwest of Kalbarri, and west-northwest of

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

in the

Mid West The Mid West region is one of the nine regions of Western Australia. It is a sparsely populated region extending from the west coast of Western Australia, about north and south of its administrative centre of Geraldton and inland to east of W ...

region. The name ''Ajana'' is Aboriginal in origin and is thought to be either the

Nanda Nanda, including Nanda (南大), may refer to: Education * Nanchang University (南昌大学), a public university in Nanchang, Jiangxi, China * Nanhua University (南华大学), a public university in Hengyang, Hunan, China * Nanjing Universi ...

name for the area or to be derived from a similar word meaning "mine".

History

Ajana was the terminus of an extension to the first government railway line in Western Australia. The line originally ran from

Geraldton Geraldton (Wajarri language, Wajarri: ''Jambinu'', Wilunyu language, Wilunyu: ''Jambinbirri'') is a coastal city in the Mid West (Western Australia), Mid West region of Western Australia, north of the state capital, Perth. As of the , Geraldt ...

; it was extended to Ajana to encourage the development of

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

and agriculture in the area. The station opened on 6 January 1913, and the townsite was declared on 26 November 1915. The railway terminated at the No 3 Rabbit Proof Fence, which ran through the townsite. A telegraph station, built in 1845 at nearby Mount View Station, provided early communications for the town. A

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

was established in 1922, and a school was built in the town in 1944. The railway line and Ajana station closed on 29 April 1957.

Barrel Well Aboriginal Community

The Barrel Well Aboriginal Community is located west-southwest of the Ajana townsite, on Warribanno Chimney Road. It sits on Victoria Location 11991, within the registered

Nanda People The Nhanda people, also spelt Nanda, Nhunda, Nhanta, and other variants, are an Aboriginal Australian people who live in the Mid West region of Western Australia around the mouth of the Murchison River. Language The traditional language of ...

(WAD6136/98) native title claim area, and has a population of 26, including 10 children. The community is managed by the Barrel Well Nanda Aboriginal Corporation, a body incorporated under the ''Aboriginal Councils and Associations Act 1976'' on 26 May 1992. The Management Order of ''Reserve 1457 Victoria Location 11991 Barrel Well'' was transferred from the

Aboriginal Land Trust In Australia, an Aboriginal land trust (ALT) is a type of Non-profit organization, non-profit organisation that holds the Freehold (law), freehold title to an area of Real property, land on behalf of a community of Aboriginal Australians. The land ...

to the corporation on 28 June 2000.

References

External links

Native Title Claimant application summary
{{authority control Shire of Northampton Towns in Western Australia Aboriginal communities in Mid West (Western Australia)