Yuna is a small town in the Mid West region of

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 ...

, in the Shire of Chapman Valley, northeast of the city of

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 ...

. The state government was petitioned in 1910 by the Yuna Farmer's Association to survey lots in 1910. The government delayed acting on the request until the Upper Chapman railway line extension route was decided on. This was completed in 1912 and then some wrangling over the best townsite ensued. One site to the west near a spring and close to the railway line was dubbed ''West Yuna'' and a siding was built; it was gazetted as West Yuna in 1913, then changed to Whelarra in 1918 and finally cancelled in 1968. The Yuna Agricultural Hall was built in 1919 then gutted by fire and then completely collapsing in 1922. Because of the site at West Yuna, development of the current site was initially opposed by the government and mined for pottery

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

. A school was erected in 1927 and then the government decided to assist with development with lots being surveyed in 1929. The name is Aboriginal in origin and was first recorded in 1863 as ''Younah Springs''; it is thought to mean bad or rotten meat. The main industry in town is

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

farming, with the town being a

Cooperative Bulk Handling The CBH Group (commonly known as CBH, an acronym An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled ...

receival site.

Transport

It was the terminus of the railway line from Wokarina. The line opened on 3 May 1912 and closed on 29 April 1957. The ''Yuna-Dartmoor Railway Act 1933'', assented to on 24 November 1933, authorised the construction of an railway line from Yuna to

Dartmoor Dartmoor is an upland area in southern Devon, South West England. The moorland and surrounding land has been protected by National Park status since 1951. Dartmoor National Park covers . The granite that forms the uplands dates from the Carb ...

and a contour survey was carried out but the line was not built. In 1944, it was proposed that this railway line should be part of an Ajana to Mullewa line. In 1932 the Wheat Pool of Western Australia announced that the town would have two

grain elevators A grain elevator or grain terminal is a facility designed to stockpile or store grain. In the grain trade, the term "grain elevator" also describes a tower containing a bucket elevator or a pneumatic conveyor, which scoops up grain from a lowe ...

, each fitted with an engine, installed at the railway siding.

Notes

References

* Vlahon, Jyne compiler (2002) ''In search of land : stories of Yuna'' Geraldton, W.A. : J. Vlahov, Mid West (Western Australia) Grain receival points of Western Australia {{WesternAustralia-geo-stub