About Opentopia
Opentopia Directory Encyclopedia Tools

Kalgoorlie, Western Australia

Encyclopedia : K : KA : KAL : Kalgoorlie, Western Australia

 

For other uses of Kalgoorlie, see Kalgoorlie (disambiguation)
Kalgoorlie is a Western Australian city located about 600 km east of Perth. Its current approximate population is 30,000. The name Kalgoorlie is derived from the local Aboriginal expression Karlkurla (pronounced gull-gull-la), meaning "place of the silky pears".

For eastward train travellers, on the trans-continental "Indian Pacific" service, Kalgoorlie is the last town encountered for hundreds of kilometres before entering the vast expanse of the Nullarbor Plain. The "Prospector" train run by Transwa provides daily services to Perth.

Kalgoorlie is the largest city in the world, by surface area (95,288.5 km²)[link].

Contents

History

In June 1893, prospectors Patrick (Paddy) Hannan, Tom Flanagan, and Dan O'Shea were travelling to Mt Youle when one of their horses cast a shoe. During the resultant halt in their journey, the men noticed signs of gold in the area, and decided to stay put. On June 17, 1893, Hannan filed a Reward Claim, leading to hundreds of men swarming to the area in search of gold and Kalgoorlie was born. The mining of gold, along with other metals such as nickel, has been a major industry in Kalgoorlie ever since. The concentrated area of large gold mines surrounding the original Hannan find is often referred to as the Golden Mile, and is considered by some to be the richest square mile of earth on the planet. The town's population was about 30,000 people in 1903. In 1917, a standard gauge railway line was completed, connecting Kalgoorlie to the city of Port Augusta, South Australia, across 2000 km of desert.

Places, famous or infamous, that Kalgoorlie is noted for include its water pipeline, designed by C. Y. O'Connor, which brings in fresh water from Mundaring Weir near Perth; its Hay Street brothels (the street itself was apparently named after Hay Street, Perth); its two-up school; the goldfields railway loopline; the Kalgoorlie Town Hall; the Paddy Hannan statue/drinking fountain; the Super Pit; and Mt Charlotte lookout. Its main street is Hannan Street, named after the town's founder.

The town of Kalgoorlie and the shire of Boulder amalgamated on February 1, 1989 to become the city of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, making it the largest city by geographical area in the world. This makes the city's jurisdiction with a land area larger than that of Hungary.

Attractions

Accommodation

There are 21 historical hotels and pubs in Kalgoorlie which are still operating today;

There are also some hotels that no longer exist in the city; In addition, Kalgoorlie has modern accommodation facilities, including;

Nightlife

Every weekend the main street is alive with party goers and drinkers looking for a good night out. You'll find the most popular watering holes on Hannan Street in the central business district;

Shopping

Kalgoorlie thrives with its wealthy mining industry which attracts national retail chains and companies to the city, mainly due to its high disposable income.

Suburbs

Location of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia (red).
Enlarge
Location of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia (red).

The City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder is made up of 20 suburbs, each of which are maintained by the Kalgoorlie-Boulder council;

Known as the home of the Super Pit, it is one of Kalgoorlie-Boulder's historical suburbs featuring many buildings and landmarks dating as far back as 1880. It was once the central business district for the Town of Boulder, but since amalgamation with Kalgoorlie, it is now more of a historical local centre. Boulder has its own post office, town hall and many hotels along its main thoroughfare, Burt Street. A new housing suburb located next to the Kalgoorlie-Boulder Airport which was recently expanded and is enjoying healthy growth. A recent housing suburb built on old golf course land. Fairways also features a primary school, church, caravan park and small business. A popular choice for young families. Adeline was originally constructed for Government employees in the 60s (please clarify), and served that purpose for many years until the housing was made available to the general public. The unusual 'no fencing' design was transformed later on to make individual blocks, therefore making the suburb more appealing for potential buyers. Today, the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder wants to transform the suburbs as it has suffered many social implications, namely because of the abundance of anti-social tennants in the still-Government owned houses. So far they have renamed it to Golden Grove, however citizens are unsure what the coucil has planned for the future. The name of a small section of Somerville, due to its large hill known to locals as "Bong Hill". Located in Kalgoorlie's far north. It was once the citys richest part of town, and the first suburb to have its own independent shopping mall (Hannans Boulevarde). A school and an 18 hole golf course are featured as well. The central business district. Hannan Street, named after Paddy Hannan, is the citys most major street and stretches from the western side of the suburb (mainly housing and some light industrial) to the eastern side (national retail chains, banks, law enforcement, restaurants, hotels, nightclubs and tourist attractions). The name of the eastern extension to Hannans. Proving popular due to adjacent nature reserve (Karlkurla Park) and good location. One of Kalgoorlie's oldest and largest housing suburbs. Much like other older suburbs, almost every street is parallel with Hannan Street in Central Kalgoorlie. It houses North Kalgoorlie primary and pre primary schools, many small businesses and medical practices, a hotel and a tavern and an 18 hole golf course. Much smaller today than it originally was before the Super Pit expansion. It's located at the far east end of Lamington between the northern Goldfields railway and Goldfields Highway. The south-east section of high-class housing suburb Somerville. O'Connor is home to its own primary and catholic high schools and shopping facilities, and it also houses the city's only recreation centre. A narrow suburb following Piccadilly street between Central Kalgoorlie and Lamington. Features the city's regional hospital, some small business, a hotel, a sporting arena and two grassed ovals. Reputed as Kalgoorlie-Boulder's richest suburb, with unique design and high-class housing and parks. It's located between West Kalgoorlie, Central Kalgoorlie and O'Connor. Stretching from Boundary Street, Kalgoorlie to Holmes Street, Golden Grove and bordering with Central Kalgoorlie, O'Connor, Golden Grove and Sport O' Kings. Mostly housing occupies South Kal, however three high schools and one primary school, some medium industrial and small to medium businesses are also here. A small recent extension to the western side of South Kalgoorlie between Maxwell Street and the Kalgoorlie race course. A housing-only suburb located on the opposite side of Fairways on Burt Street. Bordering with Golden Grove, O'Connor, Fairways and Boulder. Kalgoorlie's main industrial area. It is the first suburb as you approach Kalgoorlie on the Great Eastern Highway. Features the city's airport and small, medium and heavy industrial. Currently under expansion further west. The western tip of Lamington built in the eighties. Mostly housing with one shop, sporting facilites and an arboretum nature reserve. The small remains of East Kalgoorlie before being swallowed up by the Super Pit. Still existing area features mostly housing with one primary school, and is home to the Mt. Charlotte mine shaft and Nanny Goat Hill.

Notable people from Kalgoorlie

Kalgoorlie Post Office, Hannan Street.
Enlarge
Kalgoorlie Post Office, Hannan Street.

Geography

Weather

 Climate Table
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Mean daily maximum temperature (°C) 33.6 32.0 29.5 25.1 20.5 17.5 16.7 18.4 22.2 25.6 28.9 31.9 25.2
Mean daily minimum temperature (°C) 18.2 17.8 16.0 12.6 8.6 6.2 4.9 5.5 7.9 10.9 14.0 16.5 11.6
Mean total rainfall (mm) 22.8 31.5 23.6 22.1 27.8 29.6 25.4 21.7 14.5 15.1 18.2 16.1 268.4
Mean number of rain days 3.7 4.1 4.3 5.4 7.1 8.2 8.4 7.1 5.5 4.3 3.9 3.6 65.6
Source: [Bureau of Meteorology]

Schools

There are many schools in Kalgoorlie. Private schools are in bold type. 
Primary Schools



High Schools



Universities



Images



Image:Kalgoorlie Exchange Hotel DSC04484.JPG|Exchange Hotel.
Image:Kalgoorlie Gold Mine DSC04490.JPG|Gold Mine.
Image:Kalgoorlie Town View DSC04493.JPG|View from the lookout.
Image:York Hotel, Kalgoorlie.jpg|York Hotel.
Image:Kalgoorlie The Big Pit DSC04498.JPG|The Super Pit, Australia's largest open-cut gold mine.




See also







| style="background:#F1CF29;" |  
| 


|- style="text-align: center;" class="hiddenStructure"
| 

| style="background:#;" |  
| style="color:#;" | 

| style="background:#;" |  
| 


|- style="text-align: center;" class="hiddenStructure"
| 

| style="background:#;" |  
| style="color:#;" | 

| style="background:#;" |  
| 


|}




Preceding station
(inbound)
 Transwa Trains network
Following station
(outbound)




Indian Pacific


East Perth
↔
Kalgoorlie
↔
Cook







 Local Government Areas of the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia


 
Coolgardie |
Dundas |
Esperance |
Kalgoorlie-Boulder |
Laverton |
Leonora |
Menzies |
Ngaanyatjarraku |
Ravensthorpe






















 




From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.















Search Titles









0123456789
ABCDEFGHIJ
KLMNOPQRST
UVWXYZ?
















E-mail this article to:



Personal Message: