Although Western Australia's gold boom began in the far north, round Halls Creek, in 1885, the main goldfields lay in the barren regions 500-600km east of Perth. It was here, round Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie, that the gold rush reached its peak. In this desolate waste the first nuggets of gold were found in 1893 by an Irishman named Paddy Hannan, and the rich deposits of gold in the famous Golden Mile were a magnet for many thousands of prospectors. In 1896 Kalgoorlie, which had grown from nothing, was declared a town, and in the following year it was linked with Perth by a new railroad line. After the superficial deposits were worked out the extraction of gold continued in deep mines. A further boost was given to Kalgoorlie's economy by the discovery of rich deposits of nickel at Kambalda, to the south of the town. This and the constant influx of visitors have prevented Kalgoorlie from becoming a ghost town: it now has a population of over 25,000.
The handsome buildings, both public and private, in Hannan Street, the Kalgoorlie's broad main street, bear witness to its prosperity and self-confidence at the end of the 19th C, when it had a population of 30,000 and over 90 hotels.
Of the 100 hotels and inns boasted by Kalgoorlie and Boulder in their heyday some fine examples have been preserved in Hannan Street - the York Hotel (1900; 259 Hannan Street), the Exchange Hotel (1900; 135 Hannan Street) and the Palace Hotel (1897; corner of Hannan and Maritana Streets), adjoining which are Palace Chambers (1900; with apartments above the offices on the ground floor). The former British Arms Hotel (1899), a narrow building at 22 Outridge Terrace, now houses the Golden Mile Museum (open daily), with a rich collection of material on gold-mining days and a valuable collection of old photographs of 1894.
On Hannan Street, outside the Town Hall, is a bronze statue of Paddy Hannan, who found the first gold in the area. It was erected in 1929, on the 100th anniversary of the settlement of Western Australia.
The imposing Town Hall of 1908, with its rich interior decoration, reflects the town's immense wealth during the gold boom, as do the Government Buildings of 1899, with the post office clock tower.
Address: Kalgoorlie Town Hall, Hannan Street, Kalgoorlie, WA , Australia
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