DONGARA Continuing the journey south from Greenough the traveler reaches Dongara. This is a popular holiday spot for Perth people being just over 300k’s to the north. Dongara/Port Denison is an ‘old’ township, where plenty of heritages are on display. The place name 'Dongara' is an anglicised rendition of Thung-arra, the local Wattandee people's name for the estuary adjacent to the town, meaning 'sea lion place'. European settlement around the estuary began in 1853 when a harbourmaster, Edward Downes, was stationed there to look out for passing ships. He was employed by the Cattle Company which was establishing large pastoral stations about 15 kilometres inland. By the 1860s, ex-convict small farmers were occupying the local river flats, and a flour mill (the Irwin or Smith's Mill) was operating. In the 1890s, the larger Royal Steam Roller Flour Mill was built on the flats next to the new railway that connected the district to Perth, and the town was slowly developing, and although it was still a comparatively small village by the time of Federation in 1901, it had several churches, municipal offices and hall, a variety of shops, two hotels, a public school and a railway station. The Dongara Anglican and United Churches are century old buildings and great examples of the era. The Priory Hotel is one of the oldest and continuous trading hotels in Western Australia. The Dongara Tavern is in the main street. The Dongara War Memorial is in the centre of the cbd. The Dongara Museum is located near the United Church and is worth a look over. The Old Mill is another historic landmark of the town. This a nice town and is worth a stop-over.