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| The wide main street of Coolgardie |
Coolgardie
Fascinating and beautifully maintained major gold mining town
Located 558 km east of Perth and 425 m above sea level, Coolgardie announces to the world that it is a 'ghost town' in spite of the fact that it now has a healthy life as a tourist destination and it has a population of nearly 2000 people.
It is, by any measure, a remarkable town. Today it is still haunted by the memories of its glorious gold mining past. The main street, Bayley Street, is still wide enough for a camel train to turn around. It is still lined with imposing nineteenth century buildings - old hotels, clubs, banks and office blocks - which stand in some kind of strange loneliness waiting for the crowds to once again throng outside and the town to come alive with the shouting and enthusiasm of thousands of miners.
'It swarmed with diggers and speculators when the teams arrived. Auctioneers bawled from their rostrums set up in the open. Goods were sold before they left the camels' backs', is the way Katherine Susannah Prichard described the town in The Roaring Nineties.
The Coolgardie area was first explored by H M Lefroy in 1863 and by C C Hunt (1864) whose waterholes run all the way from the western coast across the southern half of Western Australia. It was as a result of Hunt's efforts that the area became accessible to Europeans.
Gold was discovered in the area by Arthur Wellesly Bayley who, with his partner William Ford, rode into Southern Cross with 554 ounces (16.8 kg) of gold which he had found at Fly Flat in 1892. It is worth noting that in the early days Coolgardie was variously known as Bayley's Find, Fly Flat, the Old Camp and the Old Diggings.
The actual meaning of the name 'Coolgardie' has caused a great deal of confusion. Some sources suggest that it comes from the Aboriginal words 'Koolgoor-biddie' meaning 'the mulga tree in the hollow' while others have suggested that 'golgardi' was a name given to a prominent water hole, while still others claim that 'golgardi' (changed to Coolgardie by Warden Finnerty) was the Aboriginal name for the district. In her book The Roaring Nineties Katherine Susannah Prichard insists that 'Cookardie, the blacks called the rocky pool at the end of the low ridge. The first prospectors didn't care what the blacks called it. Coolgardie was near enough for them.'
Such was the excitement at Bayley's discovery that it prompted the greatest gold rush in Australian history. Camels and horses were hired or men simply walked the rough 192 km bush track from Southern Cross. Given the climate and the harshness of the conditions it is not surprising that someone penned the lines:
Damn Coolgardie! Damn the track!
Damn it there and damn it back!
Damn the country! Damn the weather!
Damn the goldfields altogether!
The development of the town was typical goldfields hysteria. By 1896 the railway had arrived and by 1898 it was the third largest town in Western Australia (after Perth and Fremantle) with a population of 15 000 (with another 10 000 in the area) serviced by three breweries, seven newspapers, and 26 hotels.
The town was laid out and named in 1893 and it became a municipality the following year. The Post Office opened in 1895 and the following year electricity and a swimming pool enhanced the hard life of the miners. By 1897 the level of enthusiasm about the potential of the region was such that over 700 mining companies had been floated in London. The water pipeline arrived in 1903 and a year earlier the town had seen the construction of the State Battery.
By World War I the town was in decline. People had moved to Kalgoorlie where the gold was more plentiful and more reliable. By 1921 Coolgardie had ceased to be a municipality. It had brief periods of revitalisation when the price of gold improved. There was a flurry of activity during the Depression and in the 1980s, when the price of gold soared, a number of small operations started up. The title of 'ghost town', while no longer true, was nearly a reality when the population of this grand town dropped to less than 200.
Things to see:
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Historic Coolgardie
Today Coolgardie offers a unique opportunity to see what a major nineteenth century mining town must have been like. The visitor eager to experience the enthusiasm which drove the town in the 1890s should spend at least a day just wandering around the huge number of weather resistant markers which record and recall the various buildings around the town and recapture, through stories and photographs, the past life of this remarkable centre.
The markers, with their old photographs and details of the history of sites which are now no more than a ruin or a vacant block, are an excellent example of how careful planning can make the history of a town come alive.
Town Cemetery
Take, for example, the placard outside the town cemetery at the western end of Bayley's Street. It gives an extraordinary insight into what life was like in Coolgardie during the boom period.
'A SAD RECORD
'The register of burials in the Coolgardie Cemetery makes sad reading. Of the first 32 burials the name of 15 was unknown. Of the first 61 buried the names of 29 could not be ascertained. In the rush for gold identities had no place. There are frequent entries in the register of 'male child' and 'female child' and the corresponding entry 'fever'. The denomination of many was described as 'general'. In many instances the burial service was conducted by the part time undertaker. No one else was present. The bodies were carried to the cemetery in a spring cart. Between 1894 and 1899 there were 1108 burials. From 1961 to 1966 there were only 43.'
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| The Cemetery at Coolgardie with the tombstone of Ernest Giles |
One of the significant graves in this interesting cemetery is that of the explorer Ernest Giles. To find his grave turn left as you enter the cemetery. The grave is next to the very distinctive anchor headstone which is about 50 metres to the left of main gates.
Another marker records 'Ernest Giles. One of the most notable graves in this cemetery is that of Ernest Giles, an Englishman whose name is associated with exploration in inland Australia. His outstanding expedition was that in 1875 when he crossed from South Australia to Western Australia making his way from waterhole to waterhole in desert country in the far northeast and returning along a line just south of the Tropic of Capricorn. He was a man who achieved little personal success. His last days were spent in Coolgardie where he worked as a clerk in a Government Office.'
Marble Bar Hotel
Similarly, a sign outside the old Marble Bar Hotel (1897), offers an insight in the daily lives of miners.
'This is all that is left of the Marble Bar whose reputation was such that it found a place in the memory of nearly every pioneer resident of Coolgardie. The reasons for its popularity were numerous. It supplied good cheap meals. The owners were always prepared to give a free meal to a prospector down on his luck. Everyone was made to feel welcome irrespective of whether he was well dressed or in dirty clothes. The sparkling ginger beer dispensed at the Marble Bar was a heady drink believed to be associated with the fact that almost next door was a hotel. Later in its existence the Marble Bar was licensed and remained a hotel until 1927.'
The architectural ostentation of the building stands as a reminder of the extraordinary wealth which once existed in Coolgardie.
Warden's Court
The obvious starting point for any serious or comprehensive look at old Coolgardie (and it is well worth spending the time and exploring) is the magnificent three storey Warden's Court building (when it was built it was reputed to be the largest building in Western Australia outside Perth) in Bayley Street. It now houses the town's museum which takes up two floors. It is genuinely very interesting with detailed dioramas which give the visitor an idea of what Coolgardie was like in its heyday. Next to the Museum is a piece of C Y O'Connor's pipe which provided the town with a reliable water supply in 1903.
Other buildings and sites of particular interest include the local park, just along Bayley Street from the museum, which is like an oasis. The town is surrounded by dry desert country and yet greenery in the park and in front of the adjacent shire offices stands in stark relief to the surrounding vegetation.
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| The Gaol Tree in Hunt Street |
Gaol Tree
On Hunt Street (on the way to Warden Finnerty's Residence) is the local Gaol Tree with replica chains attached. It is a comment on the speed with which this wild town started. Before the gaol was built prisoners were simply chained to this tree to await trial.
Warden Finnerty's House - The Residency
Warden Finnerty's house (located in McKenzie Street off Hunt Street), known as 'The Residence', was built in Coolgardie in 1895. Finnerty played an important role in the history of Coolgardie being the person responsible for the naming of the town and the person who, while living at Southern Cross, actually granted the application and lease which became known as 'Bayley's Reward lease No 133'.
The Residency was built at a cost of £2800 out of stone which was 45 cm thick. It has 12 ft (3.66 m) ceilings which have been clad in ripple metal. The building is a statement of the important position Warden Finnerty enjoyed in the community at the time. It is also an excellent example of architecture designed to protect people against the harshness of the local climate. The verandahs are wide, the windows are louvred and there is a ventilated roof lantern.
The building was purchased by the National Trust in 1976 and has since been restored to its original condition and furnished in a 'manner that will reflect the period of Warden Finnerty's occupancy and the prosperity of the times and the tastes of the original occupants'.
Warden Finnerty's Residence is open for inspection from 1.00 pm - 4.00 pm every day except Thursday and on Sundays it is also open from 10.00 am - 12.00 noon.
Old Coolgardie Railway Station
In Woodward Street (one block south of Bayley Street) the Old Coolgardie Railway Station (1896) stands pretty much intact. For people interested in railway history the old steam train and the antique carriages recall an earlier era. An exhibition inside the station includes the famous Modesta Varischetti rescue - an incident in 1907 when a sudden rain storm trapped Varischetti underground for nine days as people rushed to bail the water out of the mine and divers desperately attempted to get to the man who was caught in an air lock in the maze of mine tunnels. The drama, and Varischetti's dramatic rescue, captured world attention at the time.
Ben Prior's Open Air Museum
Ben Prior's Open Air Museum, on the corner of Hunt and Bayley Streets, is a marvellous raggle taggle museum full of bits and pieces which recall the early history of the area. It is notable for Ben Prior's original approach to spelling. Some of the captions on exhibits really defy all spelling rules.
State Battery
A popular attraction outside of town is the tour of the State Battery. It is the only fully operational battery in the state and tours - contact either (08) 9026 6011 or (08) 9026 6090 - include the opportunity to see gold being extracted and poured into bullion bars. The building, which was erected in 1902, has been listed by the National Estate as 'a representative industrial building form which is still in use'.
This is but a brief list of the highlights of the town. With well over 100 markers recording the history of the town and with just about every building on Bayley Street being a structure of historic importance (a total of 23 buildings in the town centre have been listed on the National Estate register), it is reasonable to suggest that Coolgardie could occupy an enthusiastic visitor for two days. For people interested in one of the most exciting moments in Australia's history this is a town which should not be missed.
