We were driving from Melbourne to Perth with our 9-year-old Kidsetter and dog in tow. Passing through Coolgardie along the journey we intuitively knew we had to stop and explore. Coolgardie is located 555km east of Perth. A beautiful old town dating back to 1892 founded by C.Y. O’Connor.
The discovery of quartz gold in the vicinity marked the beginning of a rush to the East Coolgardie field.
By 1898 Coolgardie was the third largest town in Western Australia (after Perth and Fremantle) with a population of 15,000 serviced by three breweries, seven newspapers, and 26 hotels. There was a time when there were 30,000 people – swarming with diggers and speculators – living in and around Coolgardie. It was a wild mining boom town with a main street wide enough to turn a camel train and lined with imposing nineteenth century buildings.
We visited The Goldfields Exhibition Museum which is housed in the historic and grandiose two storey Warden’s Court Building built in 1898. Each room features fascinating displays telling the dramatic and often tragic story of life in and around Coolgardie during the Goldrush days of the 1890’s.
Wandering through the rooms gave us a greater understanding and appreciation of the lives of the Goldrush pioneers of the 1890s. The exhibits are testament to the discovery, growth, boom and decline of Coolgardie and the surrounding Goldfields.
Along with a brilliant collection of photographs, models and authentic equipment, the museum also houses the Coolgardie safe. Our Kidsetter was amazed to learn the Coolgardie safe was Australia‘s precursor to the domestic refrigerator. Invented in the late 1890s by Arthur Patrick McCormick, who used the same principle as explorers and travelers in the Outback used to cool their canvas water bags: when the canvas bag is wet the fibers expand and it holds water. Some water seeps out and evaporates.
Our Kidsetter was enthralled by the Varischetti Mine Rescue display, telling the story of Modesto Varischetti, who was trapped in an underground mine near Coolgardie in 1907. Divers were used to take supplies to Modesto while water was being pumped out and his rescue was planned. He was rescued successfully by divers nine days later.
Today although Coolgardie announces itself as a “ghost town”, it offers a unique opportunity for all Kidsetters to explore a once-prosperous goldmining town and a glimpse into the special magic of what it must have been like in “the roaring days”.
