Hannan's North Heritage Mine

Values

The place is rare as an extant, in-situ mining headframe and mineshaft, associated with the site since 1893 when the lease for the mine was issued and the mine was established.

The place is valued as a tourist attraction, displaying various elements of the mining industry in the Goldfields around the turn of the century.

The place contributes to the overall aesthetic value of the Kalgoorlie Hall of Fame tourist attraction.

The place is valued as a tourist attraction and interpretive centre to educate the general public on the history of Western Australia Gold mining history.

Physical Description

There are four headframes (Hannan’s North, Hamilton (and ore bin), Morty’s (timber), and Hainault) on the site of the Miners Hall of Fame. Hannan’s North Gold Mine and Headframe is the only one in its original location on the site, located further to the south-east. The contrived goldfields are set into undulating gravel site with various reconstructed buildings associated with goldmining throughout the goldfields that have been relocated to the site, including the other three headframes. Hannan’s North Gold Mine and Headframe comprises the steel framed headframe, a timber connection and timber ore bin, a small tourist office and steel platform within the steel frame at ground level, giving access to the shaft below ground. The steel caged lift gives access to tourists at the 36-metre level of the mine shaft. Underground, the walls, floor and ceiling are rock, with wire mesh fixed to the ceiling for safety measures.

History

On 17 June 1893 Paddy Hannan (in the early days the town was simply named Hannan's or Hannan's Find) registered his claim and, within three days, an estimated 700 men were prospecting in the area. This was the goldrush to beat all goldrushes. In effect, Hannan's find drew attention to an area which was home to an ore body that later became known simply as the 'Golden Mile'. Hannan's claim was not part of this reef. It was miners, forced to move further south, who stumbled upon this lode. By the end of 1893 over 100 leases had been taken out in the Kalgoorlie-Boulder area. As with all of the gold mining towns progress was almost instantaneous. The first post office was established in 1894. The following year the town was surveyed and proclaimed while an entrepreneur provided the new settlement with a daily newspaper. The railway arrived in 1896. By 1897, the population in the area had grown so rapidly that two towns had been established: Kalgoorlie (it probably comes from the Aboriginal word 'karlkurlah' meaning 'silky pear' which was a common plant along the Boulder ridge) and Boulder which was declared in August 1897 when miner's shacks and tents were moved to be closer to their workplace around the Great Boulder Mine. Kalgoorlie peaked in the early years of this century with an estimated 93 hotels, 8 breweries and a population of 30 000 people. By 1903 the School of Mines had been established and the town had fresh water from Mundaring Weir in Perth. Today, there are still about 50 mines operating in the goldfields district. About half of those are gold mines, including the massive Super Pit, which exploits the most productive square mile of gold-bearing ore ever discovered anywhere in the world. Nickel, chrysoprase, copper, granite, lime, salt, sand and silver are also the focus of industrial interest.

Integrity/Authenticity

High

Condition

Good

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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