Dundas Road Board Offices

Statement of Significance

Aesthetic: It is significant in exhibiting particular aesthetic characteristics.

Historic: It is significant in the evolution or pattern of the history of the local district.

Social: It is significant through association with a community or cultural group in the local district
for social, cultural, educational or spiritual reasons.

Rarity: It demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of the cultural heritage of the
local district.

Representativeness: It is significant in demonstrating the characteristics of a class of cultural
places or environments in the local district.

History

In 1895, following the discovery of rich goldfields in the area, Norseman was formally Gazetted as a town site, and
soon after the Dundas Road Board was formed.(1353, 1354) Although initially based in the town of Norseman, in 1929 it
was reported that, due to a local mining depression, the Dundas Road Board had decided to construct new offices in
the rapidly growing town of Salmon Gums.(1355) In December 1933 a tender for construction was awarded to Bernard
Pantall, and by early 1934 the new Dundas Road Board offices had been completed.(1356, 1357)
Following the inception of the idea, the fates of both Norseman and Salmon Gums townships had however somewhat
reversed, and suddenly the population of Salmon Gums was declining on the back of the Great Depression while the
mining boom in Norseman was again gaining momentum. At a meeting held on August 23, 1934, locals decided to
petition the Government to re-establish a Road Board presence in Norseman as “...a mining community could not be
satisfactorily administered by a Road Board composed of a majority of farmer members some 60 miles distant”.
Accordingly, later that same year, the former Road Board offices in Norseman were reinstated and reconditioned for
use as the main offices of the Dundas Road Board, which effectively left their new offices at Salmon Gums as an
isolated and abandoned outpost.(1358)
In 1938, a Country Women’s Association branch was formed in Salmon Gums which sought to use the “building
previously occupied by the Dundas Road Board as offices”, and thereafter the building was used primarily as
headquarters for the local CWA.(1359) Two years later, it was noted that only every fourth meeting of the Dundas Road
Board was now held in Salmon Gums.(1360) A boundary realignment in 1989 saw Salmon Gums secede from the now
Shire of Dundas to join the Shire of Esperance, and as jurisdiction of the district was now with the Shire of Esperance,
the land and buildings were accordingly transferred in the same year.(1361)
To date, the former Dundas Road Board Offices still see use from the Salmon Gums community and the Salmon
Gums CWA.

Integrity/Authenticity

Integrity: Low

Authenticity: Medium

Condition

Fair

Uses

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update

Disclaimer

This information is provided voluntarily as a public service. The information provided is made available in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, the information is provided solely on the basis that readers will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed herein and are advised to verify all relevant representations, statements and information.