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Bulong

Ghost Town
32km E of Kalgoorlie-Boulder

Nothing is left of Bulong today, once considered one of the most promising gold towns of the Eastern Goldfields.

Gold was discovered in August 1893 by prospecting brothers, John and Thomas Moher and a Aboriginal man from the north-west named Wimbah who was known locally as ”Tiger”. It was he who is said to have found the first gold there.

The town was originally called the ”IOU” after the nearby mining lease of the same name. The lease was granted to prospectors Kennedy, Hogan, Turnbull, Henry and Holmes in November 1893.

The following year surveyor G Hamilton designed the town plan and suggested the name be changed to Bulong, the Aboriginal name for a nearby soak. Gazetted in 1895, Bulong grew rapidly and was proclaimed a municipality a year later.

At its peak in 1900, Bulong had its own Road Board, a Warden’s Court, six hotels, three stores, a mechanics’ institute, miners’ institute, hospital, school, police station, telegraph and post offices, three churches and a brewery to serve its population of about 620.

However the town failed to live up to early expectations, although it remained partially populated for much of the 20th century.

Mining continues in the Bulong area to this day.

Near Bulong:

Boorara
Prospector Jerry Ryan found gold traces there in 1895 and the town was gazetted on 10 December 1897. It was originally named Golden Ridge after the main local mine. However the name was deemed unsuitable by the State Government and the town was renamed after the nearby Boorara Mine. Alluvial gold was plentiful, with many nuggets up to 24oz found on the surface.

Golden Ridge (Waterfall)
Golden Ridge lies 5km south east of Boorara. The town was gazetted in late 1910 and named Waterfall after the original gold mine here.  As there was already a town of the same name in NSW, the name of the mine at nearby Boorara – Golden Ridge – was adopted. This is the same name Boorara had confusingly rejected a few years previously! Prospectors Duke, Fagg, Huffa, Renley, Quigley, Schrubogna and Whitewell pegged three mining leases there in August 1901. A station for the Trans-Australian Railway was built in the town in 1913-14.