Hanbury Street Precinct (Miners Cottages)

Values

· The row of houses is a good, intact, representative example of simple cottages built at the turn-of-the-century in response to the early development and population growth of Kalgoorlie following the gold rushes of the 1890s.
· The place is a representative example of the type of housing built to accommodate miners.

Physical Description

A row of three timber-framed residences in the Federation Bungalow style clad with weatherboards, and separated by brick fire walls. The cottages are simple in design and are asymmetrical with a doorway and a single window, each with a (single-gable) corrugated galvanised iron roof. Each cottage is one room wide and has a passage along the length of one wall. The front facades have bullnosed verandahs covered with corrugated galvanised iron. The central and west house no longer is attached to their party wall, the west wall of the central house falls short of the party wall and is now clad with weatherboards. Metal barge boards have replaced the original carved timber boards (remnants are visible on the west cottage).

History

In March 1894, Surveyor G. C. Hamilton was commissioned to lay out the townsite of Kalgoorlie, enabling the planning and construction of permanent buildings that were to be predominantly of timber. The population of the town soon reached almost 15 000 and many local businesses and retail facilities were established. Kalgoorlie and Boulder soon became thriving town centres with Kalgoorlie possessing six banks, several hundred shops, three breweries and five hospitals. The railway enabled access to permanent housing. Initially, housing for miners consisted of hessian and canvas structures, which were erected wherever there was space. As the townsite grew these structures were eventually replaced with iron and timber, and then brick houses. The ever present risk of fire also resulted in the Kalgoorlie Town Council taking precautionary measures banning the construction of hessian buildings. By 1901, Kalgoorlie and Boulder were cities of a considerable size, with a combined population of 30,000. An extensive tramline system had been established, and there were 27 churches as well as 15 non-denominational places of worship in the Kalgoorlie and Boulder area. In 1902, the Western Australian School of Mines was established, initially at Coolgardie, and at Kalgoorlie in 1903. Building expansion continued in both towns until 1910, with many substantial brick buildings, including hotels and commercial premises replacing older timber buildings. In June 1908, the Boulder Town Hall was completed and the Kalgoorlie Town Hall was opened in September of that year. Kalgoorlie and Boulder continued to function as separate and distinctly different towns throughout the 1920s. With the expansion of Kalgoorlie, the area north of the railway bridge became a high socio-economic residential area. Much of the housing on the fringe of the town was still workers' accommodation consisting of box-like timber and hessian huts. The risk of fire was always present on the Goldfields, and after 1897 many of the larger commercial buildings were constructed of brick and stone, some of which replaced earlier wooden structures. The reconstruction and replacement of fire risk buildings continued well into the early 1900s.

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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