Editing Kalgoorlie (section)

==History==
[[File: Hannan's Tree Kalgoorlie.jpg|thumb|Since 1897, a tree has marked the spot where gold was found on 14 June 1893.|left]]

Kalgoorlie–Boulder lies on the traditional lands of the [[Wangkatha|Wangkatja]] people. Languages including Wangkatja,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Anonymous|date=2019-07-26|title=A103: Wangkatja|url=https://collection.aiatsis.gov.au/austlang/language/a103|access-date=2021-06-01|website=collection.aiatsis.gov.au|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Anonymous|date=2019-07-26|title=A12: Wangkatha|url=https://collection.aiatsis.gov.au/austlang/language/a12|access-date=2021-06-01|website=collection.aiatsis.gov.au|language=en}}</ref> part of the Wati language family,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Hanson|first=Sue|date=2017|title=Languages and Dialects of the Goldfields Region|url=http://wangka.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Languages-and-Dialects-of-the-Goldfields-Region.pdf}}</ref> continue to be spoken there today.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Wangkatja :: Goldfields Aboriginal Language Centre|url=https://wangka.com.au/wangkatja/|access-date=2021-06-01|language=en-AU}}</ref>

In the winter of 1893, prospectors [[Paddy Hannan|Patrick (Paddy) Hannan]], [[Thomas Flanagan (prospector)|Tom Flanagan]], and Dan Shea were travelling to Mount Youle, when one of their horses cast a shoe. During the halt in their journey, the men noticed signs of gold in the area around the foot of what is now the Mount Charlotte gold mine, located on a small hill north of the current city, and decided to stay and investigate. On 17 June 1893, Hannan filed a Reward Claim, leading to hundreds of men swarming to the area in search of gold, and Kalgoorlie, originally called Hannan's Find, was born.<ref>Raymond Radclyffe, ''Wealth and Wildcats'', Carlisle, Western Australia: Hesperian (1898, reprinted 2004), p.15.</ref>

During the ensuing gold rush, significant deposits of [[calaverite]] were discovered, but ignored as it was believed at the time that this was a mineral akin to [[fool's gold]]. The calaverite was subsequently used for construction in the town, including for buildings and paving. When it was realised in 1896 that calaverite is a compound of [[tellurium]] with actual gold, there was a rush to demolish any such structures in order to extract the gold therein. Nearly every structure created in the previous three years was scrapped in the process.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.abandonedspaces.com/towns/kalgoorlie-gold-rush.html | title=This Australian City Was Accidentally Paved with Real Gold | date=19 May 2023 }}</ref>

The population of the town was 2,018 (1,516 males and 502 females) in 1898.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article33153441 |title=Population of Western Australia |newspaper=[[Western Mail (Western Australia)|Western Mail]] |location=Perth, Western Australia |date=22 April 1898 |access-date=28 May 2012 |page=23 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

The mining of gold, along with other metals such as [[nickel]], has been a major industry in Kalgoorlie ever since, and today employs about one-quarter of Kalgoorlie's workforce and generates a significant proportion of its income. The concentrated area of large gold mines surrounding the original Hannan's find is often referred to as the Golden Mile, and was sometimes referred to as the world's richest square mile of earth.[[File:Kalgoorlie Orient and York.jpg|thumb|York and Oriental Hotels, c. 1900|202x202px]]In 1901, the population of Kalgoorlie was 4,793 (3,087 males and 1,706 females) which increased to 6,790 (3,904 males and 2,886 females) by 1903.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article32674332 |title=West Australia|newspaper=[[Western Argus|Kalgoorlie Western Argus]] |location=Western Australia |date=9 June 1903 |access-date=27 March 2014 |page=32 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

The {{Track gauge|3ft6in|lk=on}} narrow-gauge [[Western Australian Government Railways|Government]] [[Eastern Goldfields Railway]] line reached [[Kalgoorlie railway station|Kalgoorlie station]] in 1896, and the main named railway service from Perth was the overnight sleeper train ''[[The Westland]]'', which ran until the 1970s. In 1917, a {{Track gauge|impsg|allk=on}} [[Trans-Australian Railway|railway line]] was completed, connecting Kalgoorlie to [[Port Augusta railway station|Port Augusta]], [[South Australia]], across {{convert|2000|km|mi|0}} of desert, and consequently the rest of the eastern states. The [[Track gauge conversion|standardisation]] of the railway connecting Perth (which changed route from the narrow-gauge route) in 1968 completed the [[Sydney–Perth railway]], making rail travel from Perth to [[Sydney]] possible; the ''[[Indian Pacific]]'' rail service commenced soon after. During the 1890s, the Goldfields area boomed as a whole, with an area population exceeding 200,000, composed mainly of prospectors. The area gained a reputation for being a "wild west", notorious for its bandits and prostitutes. This rapid increase in population and claims of neglect by the state government in Perth led to the proposition of the new state of [[Auralia]], but with the sudden diaspora after the Gold Rush, these plans fell through.

[[File:KalgoorliePanoramaSep1930 WEFretwellCollection.jpg|thumb|Hannan Street in September 1930; the Exchange Hotel is at the centre, with the Palace Hotel on the right.]]

Places, famous or infamous, for which Kalgoorlie is noted include its [[Goldfields Water Supply Scheme|water pipeline]], designed by [[C. Y. O'Connor]] and bringing in fresh water from [[Mundaring Weir]] near Perth, its [[Hay Street, Kalgoorlie|Hay Street]] brothels, its [[two-up]] school, the goldfields railway loopline, the Kalgoorlie Town Hall, the Paddy Hannan statue/drinking fountain, the [[Super Pit gold mine|Super Pit]], and Mount Charlotte lookout. Its main street is [[Hannan Street, Kalgoorlie|Hannan Street]], named after the town's founder. One of the infamous brothels also serves as a museum and is a major national attraction.

Kalgoorlie and the surrounding district were served by an extensive collection of suburban railways and tramways, providing for both passenger and freight traffic.<ref>Railways and roads of Kalgoorlie Singleton, C.C. [[Australian Railway History|Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin]], March/April 1954 pp33-36/40-44</ref>

In 1989, the [[Town of Kalgoorlie]] and [[Shire of Boulder]] formally amalgamated to create the City of Kalgoorlie–Boulder, adjoining the two towns into what is now the fifth most populous city in Western Australia.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mediastatements.wa.gov.au/Pages/Lawrence/1992/08/Report-into-Kalgoorlie-Boulder-council-amalgamation-released.aspx|title=Media Statements – Report into Kalgoorlie–Boulder council amalgamation released|website=www.mediastatements.wa.gov.au|access-date=23 February 2019|archive-date=29 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180629102623/https://www.mediastatements.wa.gov.au/Pages/Lawrence/1992/08/Report-into-Kalgoorlie-Boulder-council-amalgamation-released.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref>

On 20 April 2010, Kalgoorlie was shaken by an [[2010 Kalgoorlie–Boulder earthquake|earthquake]] that reached 5.0 on the [[Richter magnitude scale|Richter scale]]. The epicentre was 30&nbsp;km north east of the town.<ref name="ABC">{{Cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/04/20/2877497.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100422000328/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/04/20/2877497.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 April 2010|title=Government to help Kalgoorlie quake victims|date=20 April 2010|work=ABC News|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|access-date=22 April 2010}}</ref> The quake caused damage to a number of commercial hotels and historic buildings along Burt Street in Boulder. The entire Burt St. precinct was evacuated until 23 April. Work in the Superpit and many other mines around Kalgoorlie was stopped. Two people suffered minor injuries as a result of the quake.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/newshome/7084057/earthquake-strikes-goldfields/|title=Earthquake strikes Goldfields|author1=Burke, Louise|author2=O'Connell, Ronan|author3=Pownall, Angela|date=20 April 2010|work=Yahoo7|publisher=The West Australian|access-date=22 April 2010}}</ref>