The oldest Western Austalian City

Albany lies on Princess Royal Harbour, King George Sound and for a long time was the only port of call in Western Australia for mail steamers. Towards the turn of the century, as Fremantle flourished, so Abany declined but its fine natural harbour and its strategic position made it valuable in the early days of colonisation.

The very first recorded European sighting of this southern shore was on late 1627 by the crew of the Dutch ship Gulden Zeepard, accidentally seperated from her convey bound for Djakarta. Fierce westerlies drove the ship as far as Ceduna. In Spetember 1791, Captain George Vancouver sailed the new sloop HMS Discovery, into sheltered water and reported 'one very excellent port which I have honored with the name of King George of the Third's Sound'. Then in December 1801, Matthew Flinders came to King George Sound in HMS Investigator on his voyage around Australia. This was probably the first ship to enter Princess Royal Harbour.

On Christmas Day, 1826, Major Edmund Lockyer arrived in King George Sound in the brig Amity with a detachment of soldiers, twenty three prisoners and a quantity of sheep and pigs to claim the western part of the continent. The British flag was raised on 21 January 1827 and the site was called Fredericks Town in honour of the Duke of York and Albany but by the early 1830s everyone was calling it Albany.

Whalers soon took advantage of Albany's position and ships came from the USA, France and the eastern colonies to pursue the sperm whales. Cheynes Beach Whaling Co. became the towns leading industry and at one time killed up to 850 whales a season. It was Australias last whaling station and finally closed in 1978. In a remarkably short time, whales have returned to calve in the waters off the Rainbow Coast. The main species sighted from the cliffs is the Southern Right Whale.

Albanys industries include meat processing, fish trawling and processing, sawmilling, wool milling and other manufacturing interests. The city is still an important business centre and port for the southern region and has a thriving tourist trade.

Hodurn Monument: The tall, red granite monument that stands at the top of York Street is a tribute to Anthony Hodurn, the Sydney businessman who saw the potential for expanded settlement and raised the finance for the Great Southern Railway linking Albany with Beverley in the north.He went to London to set up the West Australian Land Company so that the line could be built by private enterprise sooner than the government could afford to do it but he died before he could see his plans realised and is buried in the Pioneer Cemetery in Albany.