The town derives its name from Calingiri Waterhole, the name of which was first recorded by a surveyor in 1903. The settlement was first proposed in 1914. By the time the town was gazetted in 1917 it was variously spelt as Calingtry, Kalingiri, The Washpool, Kalingary, Calingarra, Calingtry, Calingiry, Kalingiry and finally Calingiri.[2]
The Calingiri earthquake of March 1970 was at the time one of only five known Australian recorded earthquakes to cause surface faulting.
It was thought to be related to the 1968 Meckering earthquake, but a direct connection was not made at the time.[4]
^ Gaull, B.A., and P.J. Gregson (1991) 'A new local magnitude scale for Western Australian earthquakes' Australian journal of earth sciences, Vol. 38, no. 3, pp. 251–260 and Gordon, F.R., and J.D. Lewis, (1980) 'The Meckering and Calingiri earthquakes, October 1968 and March 1970'. Geol. Surv. WA Bulletin 126
^"Rica Erickson – Reserve near Calingiri named after botanist", Calm News, official newspaper of the Department of Conservation and Land Management, Sept–Oct 1996, p. 12
^McGill, Gwenda. (1996) "Reserve officially named after Dr Rica Erickson in honour of her botanical and preservation work in the area", Avon Valley Advocate, 14 August 1996, p. 3
Buchanan, Bruce (1997) Wannamal: a history Perth [W.A.]: Curtin Printing Services, Curtin University of Technology (history of the district in the Chittering Shire and into Gingin, Bindoon, Calingiri, Wongan Hills and north to Three Springs)
Media related to Calingiri, Western Australia at Wikimedia Commons
