Gwalia is a historic, living ghost town in the Goldfields region of Western Australia, near town Leonora. It is 828km east of Perth and 3km from Leonora.
The town flourished when Sons of Gwalia Mine operated there from 1896 to 1963 and produced over 2.5 million ounces of gold. It was the second largest gold mine in Western Australia. At its peak in 1911, Gwalia had a population of around 1100 people. Today, most places are abandoned with the exception of just a few. The main attractions are the Museum, the open cut mine and Hoover House.
Hoover House
Hoover House was built for the Sons of Gwalia Mine’s then manager, Herbert Hoover. He later became the 31st President of USA. Hoover House now offers luxurious accommodation and serves coffee and cakes.
Gwalia Museum
Gwalia Museum has interesting display of indoor exhibits, as well as outdoor mining equipment.
Lessons learnt from the past
After a quick look at the mine, as well as Hoover House, I spend most of my time at the Mine Office exhibition. There I was fascinated to learn about the history of the place, which had a significant cultural meaning. A large portion of Gwalia residents during the Sons of Gwalia Mine operation were migrants from Italy and the former Yugoslavia. Reading stories of those migrants, I resonated with some of them. Like, Lucia, I too came to Australia as a migrant, leaving all my family behind and starting a new life here. Like her, I too, am finding it hard to be a first-generation migrant. But when life throws this challenge and you deal with it, you become a stronger person.
There are many lessons we can learn by reading and studying these stories. In the old days, life used to be simple and now it is quite complex. As Stephen Peacock, one of Gwalia’s residents put it:
Well, Gwalia was a really interesting and eye opening stopover. But now, we are heading to famous Lake Ballard. It’s time to go!
