Leonora
Leonora
Goldmining town in the desert.
Leonora is located 833 km east of Perth and 240 km north from Kalgoorlie. Leonora is also like so many of the small goldmining towns in the Eastern Goldfields, has had a chequered history. Gold. nickel and copper are mined in the area, particularly at the Leinster and Laverton, around 100 km. north. This place was discovered and named by John Forrest in 1869. The town grew quickly. The Leonora townsite was declared in 1898 and two years later the thriving settlement became a municipality. In 1900 a steam tramway linked Leonora and Gwalia. Two years later this small service was linked to Menzies and thus to the main railway line to Perth.
It was the discovery of gold which changed everything. Today it is a railhead for copper and nickel and the surrounding are is a wool producing region. The first electric trams in WA operated here but they are long gone. there are some historic buildings to visit and an Heritage Walk.
Leonora is always vulnerable to changes in world gold prices. After a long and slow decline (it was only sustained by its importance as an administrative centre for the surrounding pastoral holdings) it was revitalised by the boom in world gold prices which occurred in the 1980s. The famous Tower Hill mine was reopened in 1983 and the Harbour Lights mine came into existence in 1985.
