Gwalia, Western Australia facts for kids
Quick facts for kids GwaliaWestern Australia |
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The State Hotel, Gwalia, built 1903, in 2018
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| Lua error in Module:Location_map at line 416: Malformed coordinates value. | |
| Established | 1897 |
| Postcode(s) | 6438 |
| Elevation | 377 m (1,237 ft) |
| Location |
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| LGA(s) | Shire of Leonora |
Gwalia is a former gold-mining town in Western Australia. It is located about 233 kilometres (145 mi) north of Kalgoorlie and 828 kilometres (514 mi) east of Perth. The town is in Australia's Great Victoria Desert.
Today, Gwalia is mostly a ghost town. This means it has been largely empty since its main employer, the Sons of Gwalia gold mine, closed in 1963. Just 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) north is the town of Leonora. Leonora is still a busy center for mining and farming in the area.
Contents
The Story of Gwalia
The Wongatha people are the original traditional owners of the land where Gwalia is located. They have lived there for a very long time.
Gold Mining Begins
Underground mining at the Sons of Gwalia mine started in 1897. It continued until 1963. During this time, the mine produced a huge amount of gold, about 2.644 million troy ounces (82.2 t). The mine went very deep, down to 1,080 metres (3,543 ft) through a sloped tunnel.
The Sons of Gwalia mine became the largest gold mine in Western Australia outside of Kalgoorlie. It was also the deepest gold mine of its kind in Australia. The gold found between 1897 and 1963 was worth billions of dollars.
How Gwalia Got Its Name
The area around Leonora and Gwalia was first explored by Sir John Forrest in 1869. He was looking for signs of another explorer's journey. Forrest named a hill in the area Mount Leonora after a female relative.
Years later, in 1896, Edward "Doodah" Sullivan was the first to claim land here for gold. This happened after gold was found in nearby Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie. Gold was discovered near Mount Leonora in May 1896 by Carlson, White, and Glendinning. They named their claim "Sons of Gwalia." They chose the name Gwalia because it is an old name for Wales, and their funder, Thomas Tobias, was from Wales.
Herbert Hoover's Connection
The miners sold their claim for £5,000. The new owners then talked to a company in London called Bewick, Moreing & Co.. This company sent a young American geologist named Herbert Hoover to develop the mine. Hoover later became the President of the United States.
Hoover arrived in Western Australia in May 1897. He traveled to Gwalia by camel. He suggested that he should manage the new mine. He also suggested hiring mostly Italian workers to save money. Because of this, many people in Gwalia were Italian immigrants and other Europeans. They came to Australia hoping to find gold.
Hoover did not stay in Gwalia for long. He left in December 1898 to work on mines in China. The house where Hoover lived, which looked over the mine, is still there today. It is now a museum and a place where people can stay. Hoover returned to Gwalia in 1902 as a partner in Bewick Moreing. He managed all their mines in Western Australia.
Growth of the Town
As the mine grew, workers set up camps nearby. They built simple homes from metal sheets and cloth. This is how the town of Gwalia started. At the same time, an area to the north was being planned, which became the town of Leonora. Leonora was officially started in 1898.
The two towns had a bit of a friendly competition. This eased when a steam tramway was built in 1903 to connect them. This tramway was the first of its kind in Western Australia. It was later replaced by an electric tram in 1907. An electricity station was built in 1902 to power the mines. Gwalia also got the state's first public swimming pool and the first State Hotel in 1903. The hotel is still standing and is a popular place to visit.
Gwalia was also a stop on the Kalgoorlie to Leonora railway line, which opened in 1903.
Town Population and Decline
As the mine got bigger, so did Gwalia's population. In 1901, Gwalia had 884 residents. By 1910, Gwalia reached its highest population of 1,114 people.
A big problem hit the area in 1921 when a fire stopped mining for three years. This caused the population in both Gwalia and Leonora to drop by half. The area slowly grew again, but it never reached its earlier population numbers while the mine was open.
By the early 1960s, it became too hard and expensive to get gold from the Sons of Gwalia mine. In December 1963, the mine closed. Almost everyone left the town very quickly. By 1966, the total population of Leonora and Gwalia was only 338 people, with most living in Leonora.
Leonora continued to be a center for farming and local government. But Gwalia started to fall apart, with only a few people staying behind. However, both the town and the old mine slowly became popular places for tourists to visit.
Rebirth and Modern Mining
Around 1969, a new mineral called nickel was found in the area. This led to new growth. Leonora's population slowly grew during the 1970s. Gwalia, however, remained quiet and continued to decay. In 1971, people started working to save and restore the remaining homes and buildings in Gwalia. They also worked to preserve the mine's original structures, like the headframe and winder building.
In the 1980s, the Sons of Gwalia mine reopened. New methods were used to get gold from underground. A large new open pit was dug, which meant the old headframe and winder building had to be moved. The new mining operation was very successful and produced a lot more gold.
In 2000, Gwalia was in the news when a plane carrying seven Sons of Gwalia workers crashed. The plane ran out of fuel and crashed far away in Queensland.
The Sons of Gwalia company faced financial problems in 2004. However, the mine saw new life in the late 2000s. A company called St Barbara Limited started digging even deeper. They plan to mine gold from about 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) underground. Gold production began when they reached 1,100 metres (3,600 ft). This new mining continues where the old Sons of Gwalia mine left off, going much deeper.
Images for kids
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The State Hotel, Gwalia, built 1903, in 2018
See also
In Spanish: Gwalia para niños
