Pithara, Western Australia

Pithara is a small town in the wheatbelt region of Western Australia. It is located about 240 km north of Perth, in the Shire of Dalwallinu. At the 2011 census, Pithara had a population of 257, a 25% fall from the previous 2006 census.

The name Pithara was originally an Australian Aboriginal name for a nearby well, which first appears on maps of the area in 1907. In April 1913 it was approved as the name of a siding on the Wongan Hills to Mullewa railway line, which was under construction at the time. Shortly afterwards the decision was made to rename the siding to Hettie, after the original owner of the land on which the siding was built. In 1914 the government gazetted a townsite at the siding, also naming it Hettie, but this was objected to by locals, and the name Pithara was reinstated.