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Broad Arrow

Ghost Town
City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder
38km N of Kalgoorlie-Boulder

Broad Arrow is said to have been so named when prospector Charlie Reison left large arrow-shaped marks in the earth to show his uncle and partners the route from Kalgoorlie to his new gold find.

Gold was first discovered in the area in 1893. Originally gazetted as Kurawah in 1896, the town was officially renamed Broad Arrow the following year and declared a municipality in 1897.

At its peak in 1900, Broad Arrow supported a population of 2,400 and had a resident magistrate, a mining registrar, hospital, railway station, post office, two banks and its own stock exchange. There were also eight hotels, two breweries, five grocery stores, two bakers, two blacksmiths, two drapers, three churches, a Salvation Army hall, a pharmacy and legal offices.

Within a year, gold production fell away and the population dropped to 542; by 1911 only 280 residents remained.

In 1971 the movie The Nickel Queen was filmed in Broad Arrow at the town’s only surviving hotel, the Broad Arrow Tavern, which remains open today. 

Near Broad Arrow:

Bardoc
Alluvial gold was found at Bardoc in mid-1894 by Alf MacDonald and Billy Cross. By 1895 more than 400 men worked the fields. The town was gazetted in 1896, but by 1898 the population had halved and it was mostly deserted by 1908.

Black Flag
The 303oz Little Joker Nugget, one of the largest nuggets found in Western Australia, was discovered in 1896 by prospectors Harris and Williams on the All Nations lease near Black Flag. Gold was first discovered there in 1893, the year R.H. Henning pegged the Black Flag lease from which the town later took its name.

Paddington
Gold was discovered at Paddington in October 1894. Paddington was gazetted on 4 February 1897 and re-gazetted in 1912 as Gudarra. The town declined after its largest mine, Paddington Consols, closed in 1901. Today, gold continues to be mined on the site of the old Paddington township.