Kanahooka, New South Wales facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Kanahooka Wollongong, New South Wales
Kanahooka Location in New South Wales
Population	5,575 (2016 census)
Postcode(s)	2530
LGA(s)	City of Wollongong
Region	Illawarra
County	Camden
Parish	Calderwood
State electorate(s)	Shellharbour, Wollongong
Federal Division(s)	Whitlam
Suburbs around Kanahooka: Brownsville Berkeley Berkeley Dapto Kanahooka Lake Illawarra Dapto Koonawarra Lake Illawarra

Kanahooka is a lovely suburb located south of Wollongong in New South Wales, Australia. It's a great place to live, especially because it's right next to the beautiful Lake Illawarra.

This suburb has local shops and a fun playground. You can also find a park by Lake Illawarra, which has another playground. Kanahooka is home to two schools: Hayes Park Public School and Kanahooka High School.

Kanahooka's History: The Smelting Works

Kanahooka has an interesting past, especially because of the old Dapto Smelting Works. This big factory was built because of a plan to create a harbor in Lake Illawarra. This plan helped the nearby town of Dapto grow a lot in the early 1900s.

Building the Smelting Works

In 1890, a special law was passed. It allowed a company called the Illawarra Harbour and Land Corporation to start huge projects near Dapto. The main idea was to dig a channel through Lake Illawarra. This channel would let large ships from the ocean sail right up to Elizabeth Point, which is close to Kanahooka Point.

A railway line was also built. It cost about 42,000 pounds. This railway was used to bring coal from local mines. The coal would then be loaded onto the ships.

How the Smelting Works Operated

Once the railway was open, a new company was formed. It was called the Smelting Company of Australia Ltd. With money from overseas, they built a very large smelting factory. Smelting is a process where metal is taken out of rock using heat.

The factory was built on a raised area near Mullet Creek. One of two hills nearby was even flattened to make space. This design allowed the raw materials (ores) to move easily. They would go from storage bins to crushing machines, then to roasting plants, and finally to huge furnaces. After that, the metals would be sent to a refinery.

The factory was working at full speed by 1899. It was very successful for several years. They processed different metals like lead, silver, zinc, copper, and gold. These materials came from places like Broken Hill, Zeehan, Mount Morgan, and Western Australia.

What the Factory Produced

The main parts of the smelting factory included three large furnaces. There was also a roasting plant, a refinery, and a plant to make sulphuric acid. They used steam engines, blowing engines, pumps, and a foundry.

The factory produced several valuable things. These included Dore bullion, which is a mix of gold and silver. They also made soft lead and a special type of copper that contained gold, silver, and lead.

A Boom Town

At its busiest, the factory employed between 400 and 500 people. Many of these workers lived in tents near the factory. The success of the smelting works made Dapto a very busy and growing town in the early 1900s.

In 1903, a report said that Dapto was the most important station on the Illawarra railway line. The goods moved through Dapto were worth 22,000 pounds. This shows how much activity the smelting works brought to the area.

The Factory Closes

Suddenly, in 1905, everything changed. The factory faced problems. Other companies started to compete, which cut off the supply of raw materials from Western Australia and Broken Hill. A plan to process nickel from New Caledonia also didn't work out. Because of these issues, the smelting works closed down in 1905.

Lake Illawarra and Its Islands

The Lake Illawarra Authority has published books about the lake's history. Some of these books talk about the suburb of Brownsville. They also mention John Brown, who helped save two islands. These islands are called Gooseberry and Hooka. They are near Kanahooka Point, but closer to Berkeley.

These islands are now important nature refuges. This means they are protected areas for plants and animals. They are not used for recreation.