Local History
History is all about the people, places and events that form the past. The Shire of Mundaring district has a rich natural and cultural heritage with its location in the Perth Hills. It boasts a wealth of history including the iconic Mundaring Weir and the associated Goldfields Water Supply Scheme (See the National Trust's 'Golden Pipeline' Project), Lake Leschenaultia in Chidlow, John Forrest National Park, the unique Swan View Railway Tunnel and the disused Eastern Railway which is now the popular Railway Reserves Heritage Trail (over 70kms in length).
Images, Objects and Documents
The MHHS is at the cutting edge when it comes to local history collection management. Our collection is progressively being entered into a fully searchable computer database. This means our thousands of photos, documents and artefacts can be easily located and researched. Eventually all our records will be made searchable online.
Reference Library
We house the largest collection of books relating to the history of the Shire of Mundaring and the hills in general. With over 400 reference books available. These books are housed at the Mundaring Stationmaster's House in our research room. The public are encouraged to make use of these books for research purposes.
Research files
The society maintains comprehensive vertical files on all aspects of local history, relating to hills suburbs, events and significant pioneers in the district. These files are constantly updated by dedicated members as new information and research comes to hand.
Railways
In 1884 the Eastern Railway opened, stopping at Greenmount, Smith’s Mill (now Glen Forrest), Sawyer’s Valley and Chidlow’s Well. Trains began stopping at “Gugeri’s Siding” (later known as Mundaring) in 1891 although it did not become an official stop until 1893. The railway spur to the Mundaring Weir was laid in 1898 to support construction of the weir wall and the Goldfields pipeline.
In 1909 the Western Australian Government Railways took over this spur line and ran excursion trains on Sundays. These were well patronised. The spur line closed in 1952 due to the increased popularity of the family car.
Goldfields Pipeline
