Road Names – Wellington Mills – Dardanup Heritage Collective

Dongara Ridge Road: In August 1896 the first twenty-one piles for the extension of jetty, were delivered by Messrs Hastie and Buswell and the work on the jetty commenced at the beginning of September. In May 1897 a proposal was put forward to build a breakwater at Bunbury. The jetty and breakwater were both completed by 1899 although improvements continued to be made after this. Up until 1899, timber had to be transported out to waiting ships by lighter and loaded by the lumpers with pulleys, a dangerous and time-consuming operation. From 1899, as a result of
the improvements, Bunbury became a significant port, largely due to the export of timber.

An interesting aside to the extension of the jetty is a story about Henry Stanes Flynn which took place in the forest on the boundary between Ferguson and Wellington Mills. “Donga” (his Nyoongar aboriginal name) Flynn, hearing of one of the proposed jetty extensions, “went into the bush and cut and trimmed some long jarrah beams…The area he cut these from is known by locals as Donga’s Ridge…it was unofficially known as ‘Donga’s Folly’. Unfortunately, it is incorrectly signposted as Dongara Ridge.” (Memories of the Ferguson, p. 191)

The beams were never used and remained for many years in the forest at Wellington.

Reference:

Calcei, J: Wellington Mills – A History, 4th edition (2008), South West Printing & Publishing, Bunbury, Western Australia.
Gibbs, Steven: Memories of the Ferguson, Times Print, Bunbury, Western Australia, 2003 p 191