Badgingarra is a small town located in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

, about 205 kilometres (127 mi) north of Perth

Perth, Western Australia

Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

 in the Shire of Dandaragan

Shire of Dandaragan

The Shire of Dandaragan is a Local Government Area located in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, about north of the state capital, Perth. The Shire covers an area of and its seat of government is the town of Jurien Bay.-History:...

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It lies on the Brand Highway

Brand Highway

Brand Highway is a 362 kilometre main highway linking the northern outskirts of Perth, the capital of Western Australia, to the port city of Geraldton in Western Australia's Mid West region. Together with North West Coastal Highway, it forms part of the Western Australian coastal link to the...

 adjacent to the Badgingarra National Park

Badgingarra National Park

Badgingarra National Park is a national park in Western Australia , 190 km north of Perth off the Brand Highway adjacent to the town of Badgingarra, Western Australia....

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History

The town was gazetted in 1955 and takes its name from nearby Badgingarra Pool. "Badgingarra" is an Indigenous Australian word said to mean "water by the manna gum

Manna Gum

Eucalyptus viminalis, Manna Gum, also known as White Gum, Ribbon Gum or Viminalis is an Australian eucalypt.It is a straight erect tree, often around 40 metres tall, with rough bark on the trunk and base of larger branches, its upper bark peels away in long "ribbons" which can collect on the...

s".
The district was originally surveyed in the 1880s, however owing to the widespead presence of poison plants in the area and the soil types, the land was not developed for agriculture. Little settlement occurred until the 1950s, when the use of trace element

Trace element

In analytical chemistry, a trace element is an element in a sample that has an average concentration of less than 100 parts per million measured in atomic count, or less than 100 micrograms per gram....

s such as zinc

Zinc

Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...

 and copper

Copper

Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...

in fertilisers allowed for farming to occur on the sandy soils around Badgingarra. In 1955 sufficient population growth had occurred for the gazettal of a townsite to support the settlers. In 1959 the state government established the Badgingarra Research Station, to assist farmers in the development of their enterprises. In 1965 a primary school was established, initially operated in the community hall before a new school was built and opened in 1968.
The planned development of the Brand Highway 7 kilometres (4 mi) west of the Badgingarra townsite spurred the people of Badgingarra to resolve to shift the townsite so as to lie on the Brand Highway.
Today Badgingarra boasts a primary school, tavern , general store and post office, roadhouse and other businesses. It has fine recreational faciliies located at its Community Centre including tennis courts, bowling green, football oval, golf course, parks and playgrounds.