Leonora Attractions
Leonora (pop. 1000) and the neighboring settlement of Gwalia flourished as gold-mining towns at the end of the 19th C, and the productive Sons of Gwalia gold mine closed down only in 1963. The two towns were given a fresh lease of life when nickel and gold mines were opened up at Leinster, to the north, and Laverton to the east.
The country round Leonora is flat and covered with mulga scrub, but when rain falls in spring (August and early September) there is a profusion of wild flowers. Everywhere there are remains of old mining operations.
Leonora has preserved something of the atmosphere of a gold-mining town of around 1900. Its most notable buildings are the Gwalia State Hotel (1902-3), now the offices of the Western Mining Corporation, and the Gwalia Historical Gallery, in the former offices of the Sons of Gwalia Mine (1898), in which the future U.S. President Hoover worked for a time (at the south end of Gwalia).
In Tower Street are the Grand Hotel, the Post Office and the White House Hotel.
The country round Leonora is flat and covered with mulga scrub, but when rain falls in spring (August and early September) there is a profusion of wild flowers. Everywhere there are remains of old mining operations.
Leonora has preserved something of the atmosphere of a gold-mining town of around 1900. Its most notable buildings are the Gwalia State Hotel (1902-3), now the offices of the Western Mining Corporation, and the Gwalia Historical Gallery, in the former offices of the Sons of Gwalia Mine (1898), in which the future U.S. President Hoover worked for a time (at the south end of Gwalia).
In Tower Street are the Grand Hotel, the Post Office and the White House Hotel.
