Piesseville is a small town 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...

, 211 kilometres (131 mi) south-east 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....

 on the Great Southern Highway

Great Southern Highway

Great Southern Highway is a highway in the Southern Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, starting from Great Eastern Highway at The Lakes, 50 km from Perth, and ending at Albany Highway near Cranbrook. It is the primary thoroughfare for this part of Western Australia and runs parallel with the...

 between Narrogin

Narrogin, Western Australia

Narrogin is a large town in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, southeast of Perth on the Great Southern Highway between Pingelly and Wagin...

 and Wagin

Wagin, Western Australia

Wagin is a town and shire in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, approximately 225 km south-east of Perth on the Great Southern Highway between Narrogin and Katanning. It is also on State Route 107. The main industries are wheat and sheep farming.-History:The name of the town is...

. It is also on the Great Southern Railway

Great Southern Railway (Western Australia)

The Great Southern Railway was the name of a railway company that operated from Beverley to Albany in Western Australia between 1886 and 1896. In 1896 the Western Australian Government Railways took over this company and the railway route also kept the name.- Construction :The first sods for the...

. At the 2006 census

Census in Australia

The Australian census is administered once every five years by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The most recent census was conducted on 9 August 2011; the next will be conducted in 2016. Prior to the introduction of regular censuses in 1961, they had also been run in 1901, 1911, 1921, 1933,...

, Piesseville had a population of 246.

History

In the 1860s, early settlers came to the area to graze their flocks, but the first official records of it began in 1889 when the Great Southern Railway

Great Southern Railway (Western Australia)

The Great Southern Railway was the name of a railway company that operated from Beverley to Albany in Western Australia between 1886 and 1896. In 1896 the Western Australian Government Railways took over this company and the railway route also kept the name.- Construction :The first sods for the...

 opened, and a siding called Buchanan River was opened. In 1897, the Government set aside land for subdivision here, and in 1903 lots were surveyed and the town of Buchanan gazetted. The land agent at Katanning

Katanning, Western Australia

Katanning is a town located 277 km south east of Perth, Western Australia on the Great Southern Highway. At the 2006 census, Katanning had a population of 3,808.-History:...

 reported considerable interest, and a hall, school and other facilities had been completed by 1904.

However, the name clashed with a town in New South Wales (now little more than a historic gallery outside Kurri Kurri

Kurri Kurri, New South Wales

Kurri Kurri is a small town in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, in the Cessnock LGA. At the 2006 census its population was 5,644...

 in the Hunter Valley

Hunter Valley

The Hunter Region, more commonly known as the Hunter Valley, is a region of New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney with an approximate population of 645,395 people. Most of the population of the Hunter Region lives within of the coast, with 55% of the entire...

), so the town was renamed Barton in 1905 to honour Australia's first prime minister (1901-1903), Sir Edmund Barton

Edmund Barton

Sir Edmund Barton, GCMG, KC , Australian politician and judge, was the first Prime Minister of Australia and a founding justice of the High Court of Australia....

. However, after the construction of the Trans-Australian Railway

Trans-Australian Railway

The Trans-Australian Railway crosses the Nullarbor Plain of Australia from Port Augusta in South Australia to Kalgoorlie in Western Australia...

 in 1917, another railway station named after Barton in the South Australia

South Australia

South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

n stretch of the Nullarbor Plain

Nullarbor Plain

The Nullarbor Plain is part of the area of flat, almost treeless, arid or semi-arid country of southern Australia, located on the Great Australian Bight coast with the Great Victoria Desert to its north. It is the world's largest single piece of limestone, and occupies an area of about...

 led to another name change - this time to Piesse, after two prominent residents Frederick Henry Piesse

Frederick Henry Piesse

Frederick Henry Piesse, CMG was a farmer, businessman and politician who is credited with much of the early development of the region around Katanning, Western Australia....

 and Charles Austin Piesse, in December 1918. Five years later, the town was changed to its present name - its fourth in 20 years.

Piesseville today is more of an agricultural locality, although the original 1904 hall still stands.