City of Karratha Local History Archives Overview

City of Karratha Local History Archives

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Karratha's local history

Located in the stunning Red Earth Arts Precinct built in 2018 that incorporates a public library, a dual-purpose theatre/cinema,rehearsal spaces and exhibition areas, the City of Karratha Local History Archives documents the history of the towns of Karratha, Dampier, Wickham, Roebourne, Point Samson, and Cossack. It follows the transformation of the region through the pastoral, pearling and mining booms. Despite its relative youth (Karratha was only established as a town in 1996 by Hamersley Iron), this rich collection of photographs, documents and files, well-provenanced and catalogued, is a stand-out , and is accessible for all who are interested in the region’s history. The local history staff provide a research and reference service for this history and will assist with family history enquiries.

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View Collection at Collections WA

Address:

Red Earth Arts Precinct
27 Welcome Road
Karratha WA 6714
Australia

Tel:

(08) 9186 8660

Email:

local.history@karratha.wa.gov.au

Opening Hours

Mon, Wed & Friday 9am - 5pm; Tues & Thurs 9am - 6pm; Sat 9am - 2pm

Karratha Station Silk Jockey Shirt

Race day

Since the first towns were established in the north, social life has revolved around the annual races, with their associated balls, corral events and a multitude of other social gatherings. People...

Red Dog file

A loyal friend

It is not only people that have made this region famous. The enigmatic Red Dog, now the subject of Louis de Bernières' book and a subsequent feature film, claimed his place in history as he hitchhiked...

Asian dolls

Cultural gifts

For a time, it became a tradition of Asian shipping companies to gift dolls and other traditionals terms to Australian resource industry executives and their spouses. In a climate of regular...

Cossack Museum

WA's first pearling port

Located on the beautiful banks of the Harding River, the Cossack Museum is housed in the old courthouse, now resurrected from the abandoned port town of Cossack. As Perth was developing into the state...

Warlayirti Artists

Little bit long way

So says the first of many painted car-bonnet signs as you turn off the Great Northern Highway to travel the 350 kms along the Tanami track to the Warlayirti Artists Art and Culture Centre at Balgo...

Nyamba Buru Yawuru

This is the place of Yawuru

Representing the Yawuru people, the traditional owners of the country around Broome, Nyamba Buru Yawuru (NBY) is committed to a vision of mabu liyan, mabu buru, mabu ngarrangunil – Good liyan, (well...

Broome Bird Observatory

Shorebird capital of Australia

The BBO is a veritable twitcher’s paradise on beautiful Roebuck Bay, where up to 120,000 shorebirds gather every year. Once you have arrived, the first port of call is the Clive Minton Discovery...