Trayning will welcome you now – Not so in the past!

Trayning has gone through six name changes in the last 106 years! Today it’s simply known as Shire of Trayning and is home to over 400 people. However, it was not always so hospitable, with early settlers forced out due to lack of water and poisonous plants.

Despite facing many difficulties and hostile land, it seems the settlers didn’t give up trying to make their homes here or make their mark.

From 1836 onwards, different people came looking for pastoral land, to run their sheep and harvest sandalwood. Surveyor Charles Hunt was one of the first people to open up tracks and establish wells and dams in the region.

It’s only when gold was discovered at the Yilgarn goldfield, almost 50 years after the first survey party came through, did the region begin to thrive and trade began to flourish. Many more people started passing through and locals started offering food and board to these weary but excited travellers.

Shire of Trayning has a number of heritage sites and museums strongly connected to its history and development – Trayning Well, Gnammas, and Mangowine Homestead. Trayning is known for farming and its rocky granite outcrops, interesting birdlife, animals, and fragrant wildflowers, which is something to behold when wildflower season is in full bloom.

The brave pioneers who set up their homes and persevered through war, drought, sunk wells shaped Trayning’s history forever. At the very least, they were a true embodiment of the Australian larrikin spirit – making the best of what life offered them.