A soldier, Ensign Robert Dale, became the first European to explore the Mundaring region in 1829. European populations did not grow significantly until construction of the dam in the late 1890s. This involved the building of a railway line from Mundaring to the Mundaring Weir site. The Irish Australian engineer C. Y. OConnor was involved the design of a scheme that transported water to the Eastern Goldfields of Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie in the eastern part of Western Australia. The lake created by the dam was known as the Helena River Reservoir, however it is now known as Lake C.Y. OConnor. A popular picnic and sightseeing spot until this day where the railway once serviced or tearooms dotted the route to the dam to offer scones and refreshments. Work commenced to raise the dam in the late 1940s, which was completed in November 1951. In the early 1970s the downstream dam from the weir—the Lower Helena Pumpback Dam was constructed. It last overflowed into the Helena Valley in 1996 as seen in Grant Mitchells photo. Photos from Anthony Haddock , Judy Carroll Mundaring 1960 ,Sonia Gandle 1960 show Mundaring Weir over the years and The Mundaring Hotel formerly the Goldfields Weir Hotel a photo of her heritage.
Posted on: Wed, 21 Jan 2015 09:53:19 +0000