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In 1887 gold was discovered at Southern Cross, and 5 years later in
the nearby sites of Coolgardie, Kalgoorlie and Norseman. Three
Irish prospectors first discovered gold in the place now known as
Kalgoorlie. Patrick Hannan, Tom Flanagan and Daniel Shea were forced
by chance to make camp overnight in the area, and discovered the
first gold in the rich deposit known as The Golden Mile. An
enormous goldrush followed, drawing people from around the country
and around the world. Living conditions at that time and that place
were poor, with typhoid and dysentery epidemics being common.
Today, you can tour the Super Pit, Australias biggest open cut
mine. With stats of more than 260 metres deep, 2 kilometres wide and
4 kilometres in length, the Superpit is one of the only man-made
structures in the world that can be seen from space.
Over 100 years later, conditions have improved considerably and
gold production is still expanding. With the explosion of population
in that semi-arid area with little or no infrastructure to support
it, water soon became difficult to obtain and an expensive resource
to buy. Thanks to the genius of the Engineer in Chief C. Y.
OConnor, an ambitious water pipeline was commissioned and in 1903
was opened. It is estimated that since the pipeline was opened, well
over 100 billion gallons of water has been piped from Perth to the
Goldfields. It was an engineering wonder for its time. Located in the
south-eastern corner of Western Australia, the Goldfields-Esperance region is
bound geographically by the Little Sandy Desert and Gibson Desert to the north,
the Wheatbelt region to the west, the
Great Australia Bight to the south and the
South Australian and Northern Territory borders to the east. The region
incorporates nine local government areas: the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder and the
Shires of Coolgardie, Dundas, Esperance, Laverton, Leonora, Menzies, Ngaanyatjarraku, and Ravensthorpe. This is the largest region in WA and covers a
region over three times the size of the state of Victoria. Source:
Goldfields-Esperance
Development Commission Check out our listing of
Goldfields-Esperance accommodation. In addition to our listed online travel
guide information, contact the local tourism visitor centre for your destination
for more attractions, tours, local maps and other information. |
The Western Australian Museum
