Shire of Mount Marshall: History
The first European explorer in the area was Surveyor General John Septimus Roe; Mount Marshall and Lake McDermott were named after early Swan River Colony settler Marshall McDermott, cashier of the Bank of Western Australia, magistrate, and a director of the Agricultural Society of Western Australia. The area was first settled by sandalwood collectors and graziers in 1868. Sandalwood was removed from this area from the 1880s until the 1920s. Permanent settlement and the development and clearing of the land for farms commenced around 1910.
The Mount Marshall Road District was established on 6 July 1923 from areas formerly falling within the Ninghan Road District and Nungarin Road District. On 1 July 1961, it became a shire following the passage of the Local Government Act 1960, which reformed all remaining road districts into shires.