{{Redirect|Mingenew|the local government area|Shire of Mingenew}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}} {{Use Australian English|date=August 2012}} {{Infobox Australian place | type = town | name = Mingenew | state = wa | image = Midlands Road, Mingenew, 2018 (05).jpg | caption = Mingenew's main street | lga = Shire of Mingenew | local_map = yes | zoom = 13 | postcode = 6522 | est = 1906 | coordinates = {{coord|29|11|38|S|115|26|28|E|display=inline,title}} | pushpin_label_position = right | pop = <!--leave blank to draw the latest automatically from Wikidata--> | area = {{wikidata|property|raw|P2046}} | elevation= 156 | maxtemp = | mintemp = | rainfall = | stategov =Moore | fedgov =Durack | dist1 = 383 | dir1 = north | location1= Perth | dist2 = 119 | dir2 = east | location2= Geraldton }} '''Mingenew''' is a town in Western Australia, located {{convert|383|km|mi|0}} north of the state capital, Perth. It is the seat of government for the Shire of Mingenew.
== History ==
Mingenew was named after Mingenew Spring, an Aboriginal word recorded by European settlers in 1856,<ref name=landgate>{{LandInfo WA|c|M|2008-05-03}}</ref> possibly deriving from either the words ''Minga nu'' "the place of many ants and flies" or ''Mininoo'' "the place of many waters".<ref>Shire of Mingenew [http://www.mingenew.wa.gov.au/] 15 January 2011</ref> Mingenew and the surrounding Irwin District were first explored by the brothers Augustus Charles and Francis Thomas Gregory in August 1847, looking for suitable grazing land. Settlement of the district then occurred in the 1850s because it was ideal country for cattle.<ref name=landgate/> The Midland railway line opened in August 1891, and private land was subdivided, followed in 1906 by subdivision of government land.<ref name=landgate/> In 1906, the town of Mingenew was gazetted.<ref name=landgate/>thumb|450px|left|1920s panorama of Mingenew, taken from Mingenew Hill, overlooking the town<br /> thumb|450px|left|2010 panorama of Mingenew, also taken from Mingenew Hill
{{clear|left}}
==Agriculture== The town's economy is based on the farming of sheep, wheat and lupins.<ref>{{cite news |title=Mingenew |url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/Western-Australia/Mingenew/2005/02/17/1108500208299.html |work=Sydney Morning Herald|date=6 November 2007 |access-date=2008-05-03}}</ref>
Mingenew is known as ''The Grain Centre''. The CBH Group grain facility is the largest inland grower fed receival site facility in the Southern Hemisphere, with a holding capacity of 403,000 tons.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20220515000000*/https://www.cbh.com.au/contact/sites-and-ports-directory/geraldton/mingenew Mingenew] CBH Group</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.wildflowercountry.com.au/default.asp?documentid=34 |title=Western Australia's Wildflower Country ''Mingenew'' |access-date=16 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706113445/http://www.wildflowercountry.com.au/default.asp?documentid=34 |archive-date=6 July 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20210304000017/https://mingenew.wa.au/mingenew.html Mingenew] Mingenew Community Resource Centre</ref>
== Attractions ==
=== Wildflowers === thumb|200px|A pink everlasting or ''Rhodanthe chlorocephala rosea'' Mingenew has many spectacular displays of wildflowers between late July and early October. Varieties include everlastings, hakeas, banksias and grevilleas.<ref>[http://www.wildflowercountry.com.au/ Western Australia's Wildflower Country ''Mingenew'']</ref> Mingenew's floral emblem is the bird beak hakea (''Hakea orthorrhyncha'').
==== Coalseam Conservation Park ====
Located 33 km north east of Mingenew, the Coalseam Conservation Park is a renowned site for its carpets of native pink and white everlastings (''Rhodanthe chlorocephala ss. rosea''<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://florabase.calm.wa.gov.au/browse/profile/13241 |title=Rhodanthe chlorocephala subsp. Rosea (Hook.) Paul G.Wilson: FloraBase: Flora of Western Australia |access-date=8 March 2011 |archive-date=22 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110322220038/http://florabase.calm.wa.gov.au/browse/profile/13241 |url-status=dead }}</ref>) and yellow pom pom (''Cephalipterum drummondii''<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://florabase.calm.wa.gov.au/browse/profile/7922 |title=Cephalipterum drummondii A.Gray: FloraBase: Flora of Western Australia |access-date=16 January 2011 |archive-date=22 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110322173543/http://florabase.calm.wa.gov.au/browse/profile/7922 |url-status=dead }}</ref>) wildflowers. The area was named the Coalseam after the Gregory brothers discovered coal exposed within the sedimentary layers of the banks of the Irwin River in 1846. This marked the first discovery of coal in Western Australia, however, after a number of shafts were dug, only narrow seams of poor quality coal were found, so the site was abandoned. The park is now a popular picnic place, where remnants of its mining history are still present. Also present are many marine fossils embedded in the riverbank and the magnificent limestone cliffs from the Permian Ice Age, 250 million years ago – the oldest geological era.<ref>Department of Environmental Conservation, ''Coalseam Conservation Park'' [http://www.dec.wa.gov.au/component/option,com_hotproperty/task,view/id,60/Itemid,755/]</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==Further reading== {{refbegin}} *{{cite book |author1=Mingenew Historical Society |title=Mingenew, 1846–1986 |date=1988 |publisher=Hesperian Press |location=Carlisle, WA |isbn=0859051099}} {{refend}}
==External links== *[http://www.mingenew.wa.gov.au/ Shire of Mingenew] *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Fd7uRPg2T0 Youtube Video about Mingenew] *[http://www.carnamah.com.au/mingenewcemetery.html Mingenew Cemetery]
{{Towns Mid West WA}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Mingenew, Western Australia Category:Towns in Western Australia Category:Mid West (Western Australia) Category:Grain receival points of Western Australia