Following the goldfields, the Hoover connection - Kalgoorlie to Leinster

26th May 2014

Today we traveled north via Menzies to Leonora then on to Leinster.

Menzies was another gold rush town but sadly all that remains are a few grand public buildings and a couple of hotels.  We just had a brief stop there.

We decided to make a small detour just south of Leonora to Gwalia and were very pleased we did as it was fascinating.  This was a real ghost town.

The 'Sons of Gwalia' gold reef was discovered in 1896 and, as was usual with the gold rush, people hurried to the scene hoping to make a fortune.  A London based investment company sent a young 23 year old American mining engineer, Herbert Hoover, to evaluate the prospects.  He immediately set to work making changes to make the shaft mining more efficient.  In part he did this by importing Italian miners to Australia because they worked harder than the locals and complained less.  He then set about designing and building a mine Managers Residence, a Mine Office and an Assay Office all of which are in good condition and now open to the public.  This of course was the same Herbert Hoover who became the 31st president of the USA.  Remarkably he only stayed in the mine managers position for about 7 months before being sent to China but he left a lasting legacy and did return to stay in the house which was completed after he left.

Hoover house 1898

By contrast, the miners cottages were made of a timber framework covered in corrugated iron with a hessian lining.  Many had dirt floors and no kind of plumbing.  Further buildings were erected by the miners from whatever materials they could lay hands on.  Miners continued to live in these appalling conditions until 1963 when the mine closed. There followed a mass exodus to other mining towns on the goldfields.  Many of these original buildings, in various stages of restoration, remain to provide the most poignant reminder of the past we have yet seen in these gold rush towns.

Miners cottage

More upmarket miners cottage

 The mine was re-opened as open pit in recent years with the modern miners living in nearby Leonora.  The pit is huge, about half the size of the super pit at Kalgoorlie and the mine buildings and Hoover House are now perched right on the edge of the yawning chasm,  All significant constructions were relocated before the open pit mining commenced, including the timber headframe, the only one of it's type to survive in Australia.

Headframe 1899

We had such a great time exploring that we did not leave until 3:30 and decided to drive the 135 kilometres to Leinster for the night.  This meant driving into the setting sun which was challenging - dusk is exactly the time of day when kangaroos suddenly leap onto the road but fortunately we saw none.  In fact the road was so isolated we didn't see another vehicle for about 80kms.  We managed to get into camp just before sunset.  Leinster is a mining town too, however this is a much more recent one and the metal being mined is nickel, not gold.