Gooseberry Hill, Western Australia

Gooseberry Hill is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Kalamunda. It is the site of Gooseberry Hill National Park.

Gooseberry Hill
Perth, Western Australia
Gooseberry Hill viewed from the Kalamunda Zig Zag
Gooseberry Hill
Coordinates31.954°S 116.049°E / -31.954; 116.049
Population3,279 (2016 census)[1]
Postcode(s)6076
Location25 km (16 mi) from Perth
LGA(s)City of Kalamunda
State electorate(s)Kalamunda
Federal Division(s)Hasluck
Suburbs around Gooseberry Hill:
Hazlemere Helena Valley Darlington
Bushmead Gooseberry Hill Piesse Brook
Forrestfield Kalamunda Kalamunda

It is located at the highest point south of the departure of the Helena River from the Darling Scarp on to the Swan Coastal Plain. It is often associated with the railway formation of the Kalamunda Zig Zag, and the northernmost high feature of Statham's Quarry which lie on the north west of the locality within national park land.

In 1861, Benjamin Robins purchased 40 acres (16 ha) of land in the area.[2] In 1878 surveyor Henry Samuel Ranford recorded the name of the eponymous hill as "Gooseberry Hill" ; that name, derived from the presence of cape gooseberries in the area, referred to the Kalamunda area generally in the late 19th century.[3][4][5] The townsite was officially gazetted on 8 June 1959.[3]

Gooseberry Hill was the location of a war-time tragedy when a United States Navy C-47 Skytrain (DC-3) plane crashed in heavy fog on 19 April 1945 after taking off from Guildford Airport (later Perth Airport).[6] All of the ten US servicemen and three US Red Cross women on board were killed.[7][8] The plane crashed between Gooseberry Hill Road and Lansdown Road, 4.5 miles (7.2 km) from the end of the take-off runway, having travelled in an almost straight course to the point of impact.[6]

The suburb contains two schools, Gooseberry Hill Primary School, a government school established in 1972, and Mary's Mount Primary School, a Catholic school established in 1921.[9][10]

References
  1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Gooseberry Hill (State Suburb)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  2. "A Taste of Our History" (PDF). Kalamunda & Districts Historical Society. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  3. Western Australian Land Information Authority. "History of metropolitan suburb names – G". Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  4. "Ranford Family" (PDF). State Library of Western Australia. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  5. "6.0 Thematic History". MUNICIPAL HERITAGE INVENTORY 2019 (PDF). City of Kalamunda. May 2019. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  6. "Crash of a US Navy R4D-5 (DC-3), "Blue Goose" at Gooseberry Hill, Kalamunda near Perth, WA on 19 April 1945". ozcrashes.
  7. Thirteen dead : U.S.N. transport plane crashes at Gooseberry Hill. (19 April 1945, a United States Navy C47 transport airplane crashed at Gooseberry Hill. Killed US servicemen, 1 officer of the Royal Navy and 3 U.S. Red Cross workers).The West Australian, 20 April 1945, p.6f
  8. Crash victims, burial yesterday The funeral for the victims of the crash of the C47 transport airplane at Gooseberry Hill, 19 April 1945. The U.S. servicemen and the Royal Navy officer buried at Karrakatta, the 3 Red Cross workers repatriated to Sydney. The West Australian, 24 April 1945, p.4e
  9. "Gooseberry Hill Primary School". Gooseberry Hill Primary School. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  10. "Our History". Mary's Mount Primary School. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
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