View source for Wickepin

{{Short description|Town in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Use Australian English|date=August 2012}}
{{Infobox Australian place
| type     = town
| name     = Wickepin
| state    = wa
| image    = Wogolin Road, Wickepin, 2014(5).JPG
| caption  = Wogolin Road, Wickepin, 2014
| lga      = Shire of Wickepin
| local_map   = yes
| zoom        = 10
| coordinates = {{coord|32|47|00|S|117|30|00|E|display=inline,title}}
| est      = 1908
| postcode = 6370
| pop               = <!--leave blank to draw the latest automatically from Wikidata-->
| area     = {{cvt |input=P2046}}
| dist1    = 214  | dir1 = SE | location1 = [[Perth]]
| dist2    = 38   | dir2 = E  | location2 = [[Narrogin, Western Australia|Narrogin]]
| fedgov   = [[Division of O'Connor|O'Connor]]
| stategov = [[Electoral district of Central Wheatbelt|Central Wheatbelt]]
| elevation= 337
| region = [[Wheatbelt (Western Australia)|Wheatbelt]]
}}
'''Wickepin''' is a town in the [[Wheatbelt (Western Australia)|Wheatbelt region]] of [[Western Australia]], {{convert|214|km|mi|0}} south-east of [[Perth]] and {{convert|38|km|mi|0}} east of [[Narrogin, Western Australia|Narrogin]]. Wickepin had a population of 380 at the {{CensusAU|2021}}.
==History==
[[File:Albert Facey Homestead, 2014(1).JPG|thumb|left|alt=The Albert Facey Homestead, 2014|The Albert Facey Homestead, 2014]]
Wickepin's name is of [[Aboriginal Australians|Aboriginal]] origin, first recorded in 1881, but the meaning is not known. Until 1908, the area was sometimes known as Yarling, the name of a spring in the area; Yarling Well is {{cvt|8|km}} west of the town. The area was leased in the early 1870s, but started to grow after the construction of the [[Great Southern Railway (Western Australia)|Great Southern Railway]] in 1889. The land was opened up by the State Government in 1893, and by 1906 a town had started to develop.
In 1908, plans were announced to extend the railway from [[Merredin to Narrogin railway line|Narrogin to Wickepin]], and the town was gazetted in June of that year. Seven months later, the Road Board (later [[Shire of Wickepin|Shire Council]]) was constituted and the railway commenced operations. In the years prior to the [[First World War]] Wickepin was an important service centre, featuring three banks, blacksmiths and other businesses as well as a post office and railway buildings.
[[Dorothy Hewett]], most famous author of the wheatbelt, lived as a child on a prosperous farm about 15 km north-east of the town between 1923 and 1935. Her grandparents also operated the General Store in Wickepin. Two of her plays, [[The  Man from Mukinupin]]  and ''Field of Dreams'', and a dozen of her most celebrated poems, especially "Legend of the Green Country" and "Once I Rode with Clancy", are set in the area.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hughes-D'Eath |first=Tony |title=Like Nothing on this Earth: A Literary History of the Wheatbelt |date=2017 |publisher=UWA Publishing |chapter=Chapter 6. Dorothy Hewett.}}</ref>
[[Albert Facey]], [[Gallipoli]] veteran and author of ''[[A Fortunate Life]]'', lived south of the town from 1922 to 1934 with his family.
From 1917 until 1964, Wickepin hosted an agricultural show in October of each year.<ref>{{LandInfo WA|c|W|2007-03-25}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wickepin.wa.gov.au/history|title=History of Wickepin|author=Shire of Wickepin|access-date=2007-03-25|archive-date=6 February 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070206001936/http://www.wickepin.wa.gov.au/history|url-status=dead}}</ref>
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==Present day==
Wickepin is a service town for the surrounding agricultural district, and contains recreational facilities, historic buildings from its boom period in the 1910s–1920s, a [[telecentre]], public library and caravan park. Albert Facey's house was moved to the main street of Wickepin in 2000 and is open to visitors. Wickepin has a primary school, first opened in 1911, with high school students travelling by school bus to [[Narrogin, Western Australia|Narrogin]].
==See also==
* [[Wheatbelt railway lines of Western Australia]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
{{commons category-inline}}
* [http://www.wickepin.wa.gov.au/ Shire of Wickepin]
{{Towns Wheatbelt South WA}}
{{authority control}}
[[Category:Towns in Western Australia]]
[[Category:Wheatbelt (Western Australia)]]
[[Category:Grain receival points of Western Australia]]