The local pub is often where news is first broken.
On November 6, 1920, mill worker Joe Flynn rushed to the Wokalup Tavern in Western Australia's south-west to raise the alert and get help after a train carrying workers and railway sleepers from the nearby Mornington Mill careened off the tracks.
Nine people died and two were injured in what remains the state’s deadliest train crash.
The rescue team sent to the crash was able to pull survivors from the rubble, including the driver.
Megan Hardwick is an owner of the Wokalup Tavern and offered an outside wall of the building as a site for a mural to commemorate the significant event.
She says descendants of those impacted by the train tragedy still come into the pub and share their stories of what happened that day, more than 100 years on.
"There are still a lot of locals here who have some connection to train crash and it's kind of for them that we are doing this," Ms Hardwick said.
She hopes the mural will also be appreciated passing through the town.
"I'm absolutely blown away by it and I hope people driving past will be too," she said.
A tribute to the history
Multidisciplinary South West artist Andrew Frazer designed and painted the work.
Mr Fraser said a large part of the process was diving into the local history with the help of the Harvey Historical Society.
"The design intent is a commemorative piece based on the centenary anniversary of the Wokalup-Mornington train accident and [to] really honour those lives lost," he said.
"The timber trade had such a large impact on this community and the surrounding communities."
He says like any small community there are passionate locals.
"To be able to try and harness and capture some of that passion through the artwork was really integral to both the design development and the application because the artwork is ultimately handed to the community as a gift."
A century on
Two years ago, a service was held to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the crash.
Ms Hardwick points to the area's rich history.
"When you come into the Wokalup Tavern there's a whole lot of old photos we have all around the place that show what it was like back in the day when it was built which was in 1907," she said.
"There's a plaque you can see in the front bar that has all details and history of the train crash so when people come in they can read about it and then probably wander around and have a look at the mural when they are here."
The mural is part of wider public art project by the Shire of Harvey.
