Famous asbestos mining town now a genuinely dangerous ghost town. The Silverton Hotel remains standing and has been featured in a number of Australian film production such as Mad Max 2, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and Razorback. Today, all that remains are eight graves in a damaged old cemetery. The rare albino green turtle is “one in 1,000” and lucky to have been spotted. Visitors can still reach ruins at East Pillinger by a four-hour return walk along the railway and river, which starts at Kelly Basin Road, south of Lynchford. Nope, the hieroglyphs seen engraved on rocks within Brisbane Water National Park were not the handiwork of Egyptian travellers who sailed to Australia some 5000 years ago. Cook was once home to a bush hospital which advertised itself with a sign at the station saying, “If you’re crook, come to Cook.” Previously relying on an underground artesian aquifer, the town’s water supply is now carried in by train. Between 1876 and 1968, the town was home to the many tin miners working in the area. Located 188km east of Port Hedland and 68km north-east of Marble Bay, Shay Gap is burrowed amongst rugged and rocky ranges. Famous Parkes Radio Telescope given Wiradjuri name ‘Murriyang’. To others a ghost town may have a few inhabitants still there . Central Australia’s first official town is located 110km east of Alice Springs and 1610km from Darwin. Abandoned towns. Phrases that could be used to describe Gunbar include (but are not limited to): “once thriving”, “not busy” and “relatively quiet.” Technically, with 97 inhabitants, Gunbar isn’t deserted, but lots of other websites have featured it on their lists of Australian ghost towns and I didn't want to rock the boat. Now, less than 50 people call it home. Hidden in the Australian bush and buried beneath dust lie wrecks and ruins of towns that once bustled with life. Subscribe & Save Over $19 Wittenoom is a declared contaminated site and former townsite 1,420 kilometres (880 mi) north-north-east of Perth, in the Hamersley Range in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. And it starts with a … Named after a Scottish district and castle, Cassilis was a ‘thriving mining centre’ (thanks Wikipedia) during the gold boom of the late 1800s. (Image: Gawler History/Flickr). King, Norma (1974) Ghost towns of the north country Kalgoorlie/Boulder David Paton Printing McGowan, Barry. Some are major tourist hot spots; others are little more than a few piles of rubble in the middle of nowhere; some aren't even that – Australia has ghost towns to cater to all tastes. Miners arrived in droves after gold was discovered in 1887, but by 1933 the population resided at a lowly head count of just 25. So you’ll be glad to know that Australia has no shortage of places in which ghosts may or may not hang out. Once a busy port in the Kelly Basin, Pillinger has now been reclaimed by forest. Ten years on, Christchurch has learnt some valuable lessons in city planning. During the 1880s it was only accessible by walking or riding alongside the Overland Telegraph Line from Oodnadatta to Alice Springs, then following the MacDonnell Ranges east. Historic ghost town which describes itself as 'The nearest wilderness to Sydney'. This list may not reflect recent changes (). There is no true definition of a ghost town . Headstones inscribed with Arabic and facing Mecca in Farina, South Australia. Poimena was once a part of several bustling towns in Tasmania’s Blue Tier Plateau. In the mid-1990s, the town was home to nearly 1000 people, but today it ceases to exist. With a population of 600 by the late 1800s, Farina was once a buzzing town that had two hotels, an underground bakery, a bank, two breweries, a general store, a church and even a brothel. It was settled in 1878 by farmers and reached a population of approximately 600. CHECK OUT OUR >>> NEW VIDEO INDEX PAGE. Prospectors pursuing the Fraser River Gold … That's probably why Hill End is being classified as a Ghost Town. What killed off Southeast Asia’s giant hyenas and other megafauna? From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Betoota is a ghost town within the locality of Birdsville, in the Shire of Diamantina, in the Channel Country of Central West Queensland, Australia. To some a ghost town is a town completely abandoned . The town’s demise coincided with the collapse of copper prices in 1920. A population of around 1500 in 1913, by 2006 it was home to merely 209, and was not recorded in the most recent census. Cook, SA. Yerranderie is a ghost town that once prospered as a silver and lead mining operation. Top Western Australia Ghost Towns: See reviews and photos of Ghost Towns in Western Australia, Australia on Tripadvisor. If you’re reading this, I’m assuming you have an interest in ghost towns and might be keen to go out and see some for yourself. The major buildings in the town were abolished and by 1960 the once bustling train line ceased to exist. Ruins at Arltunga in the Northern Territory. Pages in category "Ghost towns in New South Wales" The following 37 pages are in this category, out of 37 total. Crowds in the once-bustling town of Walhalla, c.1910. The remains of the railway track can still be seen – despite the forest’s best efforts to completely engulf the town. (Image: HSpirit/Wikimedia). Like other towns in the area, Dawson had its good and bad years for farming. The old mines and underground machinery chambers that lie 300 metres below the surface are a popular tourist attraction. The town was established so that the North Mount Lyell Company could ship ore from the town of Crotty to Pillinger. And – get this – it’s rumoured that the spirits of two murdered miners haunt the town to this day (a fact that ultimately led to Joadja’s inclusion in this comprehensive article about ghost towns.). At one point it was home to more than 500 people. (Image: Conollyb/Wikimedia). Elevated view of the small town of Kuridala, c.1921. Then quite suddenly the road topped a small rise-and there was the town. Maryborough School, 1880. Visit at your peril (actual ghost sightings not guaranteed). Get great photography, travel tips and exclusive deals delivered to your inbox. They built a railway line through the town in 1910, hoping to bring in more visitors, but the visitors didn’t come. The name ‘Broad Arrow’ sounds like a real ghost town. Disused building in the self-proclaimed ghost town of Cook, South Australia. Some have been meticulously preserved, frozen in time for more than a century – others have been left to the whims of Mother Nature and are nothing more than a knot of ruins. Here are our pick of the 10 eeriest Aussie ghost towns to discover and explore. Cassilis, Victoria. Farina: Ruined Ghost Town - Oodnadatta Track, South Australia; Volunteers bring ghost town back to life; Postcards television show about South Australia; Last edited on 6 May 2020, at 01:15. A Increase font size. The old town is less than 100 kilometres from the Sydney GPO, yet it is probably as remote as any other mountain village in Australia. You get the point. It wasn’t until 1875, when two men drilling a well on a station just south of the area hit a deposit of silver, that the town was officially established some 10 years later. The definition of a Ghost Town can still have some occupants from the town. Ghost towns: they’re just like regular towns, only spookier. Some ghost towns hide in plain sight among the living, as in Semiahmoo: a 125-acre spit near Blaine. But it’s found fame in its desertion: thanks to the good-looking old colonial buildings and desert landscapes, more than 140 films and commercials have been filmed in Silverton including Razorback; Mad Max 2; The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and Dirty Deeds. Instead of regular bus stops, they have ghost bus stops. There were once three wharves, a saw mill, brickworks and a shipping terminus, however today most of what’s left is decaying fragments of the rail line. Australian Geographic acknowledges the First Nations people of Australia as traditional custodians, and pay our respects to Elders past and present, and their stories and journeys that have lead us to where we are today. and was on the old alignment of the Ghan railway line. (2002) Australian ghost towns South Melbourne, [Vic.] Long-forgotten gold rush towns and deserted railroad villages pepper Australia's vast outback. The … Wittenoom is a town in the Pilbara region of Western Australia about 1,106 km north north east of Perth. (Image: Joanne Powell / Wikimedia). Ramshackle buildings still stand in the town’s centre, drawing a large number of visitors to Walhalla throughout the year. It was not in the least what we expected. Back up to New South Wales, and let’s take a (metaphorical) look at the old town of Gunbar. Now with less than 20 residents, Walhalla is ironically more popular than ever, bringing in big numbers of tourists every year. It doesn't need to be abandoned. A Decrease font size. Two sailors – John Thomas Lewis and James Meek Nickinson discovered a gold nugget in the grass at Whroo in 1854, the same date as Russia’s Battle of Balaklava in the Crimean War, hence the name. The declared contaminated site comprises 50,000 hectares (120,000 acres), making it the "largest contaminated site in the southern hemisphere." During the 1950s, Wittenoom was the Pilbara's biggest town, but was shut down in 1966 due to health concerns from asbestos mining at the nearby Wittenoom Gorge. Lichen field where Poimena once stood on Blue Tier Plateau, Tasmania. It is now one of many ghost towns of South Australia in the Flinders Ranges. Get there. Shay Gap was once a company town developed by Mount Goldsworthy Mining associates. But it was with the discovery of an even richer ore body in Broken Hill that led to the abandonment of the town. Yerranderie was a silver and lead mining town from late in the 19th Century to about 1950 but is now a ‘ghost town’ with a fascinating story of considerable heritage significance and tourist interest. This sleek and modern designed weather station offers you a jumbo display which is easy to read and covers most weather information for your daily needs, Build two self-stabilizing robots and face-off against your opponent as you fight to the finish. What's not to love?! Established in 1917 along the Trans-Australian Railway, the town is now home to four full-time residents. Instead of gas stations, they have ghost gas stations. In 1910 a railway line was built in the hope of attracting more visitors, however along with the decline of gold mining, local industry and business collapsed. Wittenoom was removed from official maps in 2007 (Picture: jaedoooon/Instagram) Tourists have been urged to stay away from a town in Western Australia … (Image: The Queenslander/Wikimedia). Walhalla, Australia GV. Instead of regular shops, they have ghost shops. (Image: Doug Beckers/Tasmania). Founded as a gold mining community in 1862, the town is located in the eastern Victoria region of Gippsland. PLUS your choice of gift. ‘Expect the unexpected’: Koala rescued after scaling NSW lighthouse, Australian Geographic Society Expeditions, Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year competition, Environmentalists, Conservationists and Scientists. What causes Lake’s George’s water levels to fluctuate so wildly? … What we can learn about Mars from meteorites found on Earth, The story of Valerio Ricetti, the hermit of Griffith, Turning toxins to therapies: the wild world of researching venom, ‘Nice and clean’: Not all blackened landscapes are bad. A railway bridge leading to East Pillinger. Remote locations. There’s a circuit walk that takes in one of the tallest trees on mainland Australia, a stone tunnel called Big Culvert, and the Cora Lyn Falls. Arltunga can be found 110 clicks east of Alice Springs. Pillinger’s last residents are said to have left around 70 years ago – giving the place legitimate ghost town status. It's called Australian Ghost Towns and is written by Barry McGowan. Ruins of the Exchange Hotel in Farina, South Australia. Ghost towns usually have an atmosphere of disrepair; roofless buildings, ruins, heaps of rubble, and old iron. Literally miles from Cassilis, South Australia’s Farina is another town in which nobody lives (making it perfect fodder for this article on ghost towns). Picturesque valley in Australia with small town Walhalla looking like a set from a western film. No wonder the town is a ghost town, and people were infected, being so close to asbestos and actually working with it. Not much to see. This ghost town located at the mouth of the Wittenoom Gorge is the home of Australia’s greatest industrial disaster. This is an edited and extended version of our Six of the best ghost towns story from 2010. The fatal earthquake that hit Christchurch, New Zealand, on 22 February 2011 killed 185, wrecked the city’s CBD and undermined its eastern suburbs. The town was previously named Gulatten, however anti-German sentiment during the war prompted the change to Kuridala, an Aborignal word meaning eagle hawk. Adamsfield. Most were not good, but in 1894 news that gold had been found nearby brought great excitement. Key points: Lock's population has declined, largely due to agricultural agglomeration This is a list of towns that were known to exist at one time but have since been abandoned. It is on the Davyhurst to Ora Banda Road in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia. The gold mining town of Walhalla was founded in 1862 and, in its prime, was home to some 4000 residents.