Goldfields–Esperance historical timeline

This timeline is a selected list of events and locations of the development of the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia.

Date	Event	Location	Notes
1627	Gulden Zeepaert, skippered by François Thijssen sails along the coast of the Great Australian Bight	Great Australian Bight	[1]
1791	George Vancouver sails through the Recherche Archipelago and Esperance Bay aboard HMS Discovery	Recherche Archipelago	[2]
1792	French sailors visit Recherche Archipelago and Esperance Bay aboard Recherche and Espérance captained by Bruni d'Entrecasteaux	Recherche Archipelago	[1]
1801	Nicolas Baudin sails across the Great Australian Bight as part of his expedition to map the coast aboard Le Géographe and Le Naturaliste	Great Australian Bight	[1]
1802	Matthew Flinders sails across the Great Australian Bight as part of his expedition to map the coast aboard Investigator	Great Australian Bight	[1]
1820s	Whalers and sealers operating along the south eastern coastline of Western Australia.	Recherche Archipelago	[3]
1824	Wreck of the sealer Belinda	Middle Island
1841	Edward John Eyre and Wylie traverse Great Australian Bight and Nullarbor Plain by land as part of their expedition from South Australia to Albany	Nullarbor Plain	[4]
1870	Fraser Range Station established by John and Alexander Forrest on their expedition to Adelaide	Fraser Range Station	[5]
1872	Mundrabilla Station established	Mumndrabilla	[6]
1876	Pastoralists start breeding horses in the area near present-day Madura Station	Madura Station	[7]
1877	The East West Telegraph Line is completed and the first Eyre Telegraph Station is constructed	Nullarbor Plain	[8]
1892	Gold is discovered and the townsite of Coolgardie is established.	Coolgardie	[9]
1892	Gold is discovered near Gudarra	Gudarra	[10]
1892	Gold is discovered near Lawlers by prospectors Anderson, Hall and Heffernan	Lawlers	[11]
1893	A group of Prospectors travelling to Mount Youle; Patrick (Paddy) Hannan, Tom Flanagan, and Dan O'Shea discover gold.	Kalgoorlie	[12]
1893	Gold is discovered by prospector, R.H Henning, near Black Flag	Black Flag	[13]
1893	Gold is discovered prospectors, Hogan, Henry, Holmes, Kennedy and Turnbull near Bulong	Bulong	[14]
1893	The townsite of Kalgoorlie is gazetted.	Kalgoorlie	[12]
1893	The townsite of Esperance is gazetted	Esperance	[15]
1894	Eastern Goldfields Railway completed between Northam and Southern Cross	Southern Cross	[16]
1894	Gold is discovered near Bardoc	Bardoc	[17]
1895	Gold is discovered near Callion	Callion	[18]
1895	Gold is discovered near Kookynie by a group of prospectors including W.A. Miller	Kookynie	[19]
1895	The townsite of Bulong gazetted.	Bulong	[20]
1895	The townsite of Dundas gazetted.	Dundas	[21]
1895	Sturt Meadows cattle station established by Henry Manuel	Sturt Meadows Station	[22]
1895	The townsite of Goongarrie gazetted.	Goongarrie	[10]
1895	The townsite of Menzies is gazetted	Menzies	[23]
1896	Eastern Goldfields Railway completed between Southern Cross and Boorabbin	Boorabbin	[16]
1896	The townsite of Bardoc is gazetted	Bardoc	[20][24]
1896	The townsite of Broad Arrow is gazetted	Broad Arrow	[20]
1896	The townsite of Lawlers is gazetted	Lawlers	[25]
1896	Gold is discovered and mining commences near Mount Morgans	Mount Morgans Gold Mine	[26]
1896	The townsite of Murrin Murrin is gazetted	Murrin Murrin	[23]
1896	Pinnacles cattle station established by Messrs Routledge, Morris and Willis	Pinnacles Station	[27]
1896	St John of God Sisters establish hospital in Coolgardie	Coolgardie	[28]
1896	St Mary's Catholic Church, Kalgoorlie, opened	Kalgoorlie	[29]
1897	The townsite of Black Flag is gazetted	Black Flag	[20]
1897	The townsite of Gudarra is gazetted	Gudarra	[10]
1897	The townsite of Kambalda gazetted.	Kambalda	[19]
1897	The townsite of Leonora is gazetted	Leonora	[30]
1897	The upgraded stone Eyre Telegraph Station is constructed	near Cocklebiddy	[8]
1897	The townsite of Callion gazetted.	Callion	[18]
1897	Eastern Goldfields Railway completed between Boorabbin and Kalgoorlie, completing the line all the way to Perth	Kalgoorlie	[16]
1897	The townsite of Widgiemooltha gazetted.	Widgiemooltha	[31]
1898	The townsite of Waverley gazetted.	Waverley	[31]
1899	The townsite of Mount Morgans gazetted.	Mount Morgans	[23]
1900	The townsite of Laverton gazetted	Laverton	[32]
1900	The townsite of Kookynie gazetted.	Kookynie	[19]
1901	Crusading editor of Kalgoorlie Sun, Hugh Mahon, elected first member for federal electorate of Coolgardie
1903	Goldfields Water Supply Scheme commences operations and first water arrives at Mount Charlotte Reservoir	Kalgoorlie	[33][34]
1903	The townsite of Yarri gazetted.	Yarri	[35]
1903	Banjawarn Station established initially to graze sheep	Banjawarn Station	.[36]
1904	The townsite of Princess Royal gazetted.	Princess Royal	[37]
1904	Erlistoun cattle station established by Butcher and Uhr	Erlistoun	[38]
1904	The townsite of Lakewood gazetted.	Lakewood	[25]
1904	Yundamindera cattle station established by Dr Charles Laver	Yundamindera Station	[39]
1904	The townsite of Yunndaga gazetted.	Yunndaga	[35]
1906	Credo cattle station established by William Henry Halford	Credo Station	[40]
1907	Gold Stealing Detective Squad formed in Kalgoorlie	Gold_Stealing_Detection_Unit
1908	The Coolgardie to Widgiemooltha section of the Esperance branch railway opened	Widgiemooltha	[41]
1909	The Widgiemooltha to Norseman section of the Esperance branch railway opened	Norseman	[41]
1910	The townsite of Kurrawang is gazetted	Kurrawang	[19]
1912	The townsite of Ora Banda is gazetted	Ora Banda	[42]
1912	Daisy Bates appointed Honorary Protector of Aborigines at Eucla	Eucla
1916	The townsite of Comet Vale gazetted.	Comet Vale	[18]
1917	Trans-Australian Railway completed	Nullarbor Plain	[43]
1919	Prospector, Pat Ives, discovered gold at his working known as Ives Reward	St Ives Gold Mine	[44]
1922	Albert Green begins 18-year term as federal member for Kalgoorlie
1923	The townsite of Grass Patch gazetted.	Grass Patch	[10]
1924	Adelong cattle station established	Adelong Station
1924	The townsite of Scaddan gazetted.	Scaddan	[45]
1925	The Esperance to Salmon Gums section of the Esperance branch railway opened	Salmon Gums	[41]
1925	The townsite of Salmon Gums gazetted.	Salmon Gums	[45]
1926	Walsh and Pitman - two detectives murdered by gold thieves	Gold Stealing Detection Unit	[46]
1927	The East West Telegraph ceases operations	Nullarbor Plain	[8]
1927	The Salmon Gums to Norseman section of the Esperance branch railway opened	Norseman	[41]
1928	Construction of Kalgoorlie Aerodrome commences	Kalgoorlie	[47]
1933	Warburton is established as an Aboriginal Mission	Warburton	[48]
1934	The townsite of Mount Palmer gazetted after gold is found.	Mount Palmer	[23]
1934	Construction of the Esperance Deepwater wharf, known as Tankers Jetty, commences.	Esperance	[49]
1935	Construction of Tankers Jetty is completed.	Esperance	[49]
1936	The townsite of Agnew is gazetted	Agnew	[50]
1941	Construction of Eyre Highway commences
1942	Construction of Eyre Highway completed		[51]
1942	Bombing in Boulder kills 14	Boulder	[52]
1948	Katherine Susannah Prichard's novel Golden Miles portrays Goldfields life of the 1920s
1952	Mount Morgans gold mine closes after producing 328,000 ounces of gold at 15 g/t.	Mount Morgans Gold Mine	[26]
1952	Kurrawang Native Mission established	Kalgoorlie	[53]
1953	Construction of Anne Beadell Highway commences
1955	Construction of Gunbarrel Highway commences		[54]
1956	Giles Weather Station established	Warakurna
1958	Construction of Gunbarrel Highway completed	Carnegie Station	[54]
1960	Fall of Millibillie meteorite	Wiluna
1961	Arubiddy sheep station is established	Arubiddy Station	[55]
1962	Construction of Anne Beadell Highway completed	Laverton	[56]
1962	The townsite of Caiguna is established	Caiguna	[57]
1962	Rawlinna sheep station, the largest sheep station in the world, is established by Hugh G. MacLachlan	Rawlinna Station	[58]
1962	The townsite of Munglinup gazetted.	Munglinup	[23]
1963	The townsite of Condingup gazetted.	Condingup	[18]
1965	The townsite of Koolyanobbing gazetted.	Koolyanobbing	[19]
1965	First land-backed berth opened at Esperance Port	Esperance	[59]
1966	The townsite of Jerdacuttup gazetted.	Jerdacuttup	[60]
1966	Malcolm Campbell Ross takes up the lease on Mount Elvire Station	Mount Elvire Station	[61]
1967	Mining of Iron Ore commences at Dowd Hill	Koolyanobbing	[62]
1969	A prospector named Ken Shirley discovered a huge nickel deposit at Mount Windarra in the Laverton area	Laverton	[63]
1970	Indian Pacific transcontinental train begins operation, with change of locomotive at Kalgoorlie
1971	Nullarbor Nymph hoax	Eucla
1972	Second land-backed berth opened at Esperance Port	Esperance	[59]
1976	The townsite of Leinster is established by Agnew Mining as a dormitory town for workers at its nickel mine	Leinster	[64]
1980	Graeme Campbell begins 18-year term as federal member for Kalgoorlie
1979	Granny Smith gold deposit discovered near Mount Weld	Granny Smith Gold Mine
1988	Gold is discovered at Sunrise Dam	Sunrise Dam Gold Mine	[65]
1988	Mount Morgans gold mine reopens after closing in 1952	Mount Morgans Gold Mine	[26]
1989	Super pit created in Kalgoorlie from the consolidation of a number of small underground mines into a single open pit mine by Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines	Kalgoorlie	[66]
1991	Bulk carrier Sanko Harvest sinks after striking reef	Recherche Archipelago
1993	Ten mile Lagoon wind farm commences operations near Esperance	Ten Mile Lagoon Wind Farm	[67]
1993	Gold mining commences at Tarmoola mine near Leonora	Tarmoola Gold Mine	[68]
1993	Mining commences at Kanowna Belle near Kalgoorlie	Kanowna Belle Gold Mine	[69]
1997	Mount Morgans gold mine closes again after reopening in 1988	Mount Morgans Gold Mine	[26]
2002	Third land-backed berth opened and A$65 million upgrade at Esperance Port completed	Esperance	[59]
2004	Mining ceases at Tarmoola following a pit wall collapse	Tarmoola Gold Mine	[68]
2006	Mining commences at Wattle Dam gold mine	Wattle Dam Gold Mine	[70]
2008	Death of Mr Ward from overheating in police van	Kalgoorlie
2009	Mount Morgans gold mine reopens after closing in 1997	Mount Morgans Gold Mine	[26]
2010	Buildings damaged in Kalgoorlie-Boulder earthquake	Kalgoorlie-Boulder
2012	Mining commences at Tropicana gold mine	Tropicana Gold Mine	[71]

See also

• Kimberley historical timeline
• Pilbara historical timeline
• Regions of Western Australia