Boya is a locality on the Darling Scarp, in the Shire of Mundaring, Western Australia; it is on the south side of Greenmount Hill, and just west of Darlington.

Boya Perth, Western Australia
Boya from the south, Mountain Quarry and Greenmount Hill behind
Coordinates	31.914°S 116.056°E / -31.914; 116.056
Population	669 (SAL 2021)[1]
Postcode(s)	6056
LGA(s)	Shire of Mundaring
State electorate(s)	Midland
Federal division(s)	Hasluck
Suburbs around Boya: Koongamia Greenmount Greenmount Helena Valley Boya Darlington Helena Valley Helena Valley Darlington

The name of Boya is a local Noongar word meaning "stone" or "rock", and was imposed by government officials in the early twentieth century.

Quarries

It was crucial as a site of quarries. The Mountain Quarry and the Government Quarry were both important blue stone quarries in their time.[2]

The harbour and moles at Fremantle were built using stone from the Government quarry.

The Government Quarry (on the south eastern part of the locality) was variously named during its time of operation as Mr O'Connor's quarry, the Fremantle Harbour Works Darlington Quarry,[3] the Public Works Quarry, the Government Quarry, and, currently, as Hudman Road Quarry.

Being at the edge of the Greenmount National Park and the Hudman Road Quarry, Boya has been subject to serious threatening bushfires spreading from these locations in recent years.

In the history of the early Eastern Railway, which passed through Boya, Boya was the location of "Cape Horn", a notorious curve at the 22-mile mark, where runaway trains derailed a number of times.[4]

The community has a rich architectural variety of houses due to the challenge of steep and rocky blocks.

Notes

References

• Elliot, Ian Mundaring – A History of the Shire. 1983 ISBN 0-9592776-0-9
• Spillman, Ken Life was meant to be here: community and local government in the Shire of Mundaring. 2003 ISBN 0-9592776-3-3
• Watson, Lindsay The railway history of Midland Junction. 1995 ISBN 0-646-24461-2

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Boya, Western Australia.

External links

• Mundaring and Hills Historical Society website