Wooroloo Sanatorium

Wooroloo Sanitorium 1915

Wooroloo Sanitorium 1915

The Wooroloo Sanatorium

Wooroloo Sanatorium, in the Darling Ranges of Western Australia, was established by the State Government in response to the infectious diseases, such as typhoid, diphtheria and tuberculosis, that were widely prevalent in the aftermath of the mass migration that came as a result of the gold rushes in Western Australia in the early part of the twentieth century.  The official opening was on the 1st May 1915. Emphasis was placed on the treatment of tuberculosis through the provision of fresh air and sunlight. Patients with silicosis were relocated from the Coolgardie Sanatorium to Wooroloo when the Coolgardie sanatorium was closed down. The Coolgardie Sanatorium was the first sanatorium in Western Australia to treat TB Patients.

Bye the 1960’s, the sanatorium was no longer required and the institution was operated as a geriatric and a district hospital.  The Wooroloo Sanatorium was subsequently converted to a minimum security prison for short term offenders after the Prisons Department officially acquired the site in April 1970.

The former sanatorium itself occupies a band of land between the Great Eastern Highway and the pipeline for the Goldfields Water Supply. It stands on the slopes of Beechina Hill above the Linley Valley and Wooroloo Creek.

The Wooroloo Cemetery is located midway between the former sanatorium and the township of Wooroloo.

For further reading on the history of the sanatorium you can go to the http://slwa.wordpress.com/2008/01/02/interesting-places-wooroloo-sanitorium/

The above link will also take you to a web site which has photographs of the headstones in the Wooroloo  Cemetery.  The Cemetery has the burials of  78 Goldfields people. They would have been sent to the sanatorium for treatment and many died there never having seen their families again.

This link will take you to a page which show the people from the Goldfields who are buried in the Woroloo Cemetery :  http://www.outbackfamilyhistory.com.au/records/record.php?record_id=634

 

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My name is Moya Sharp, I live in Kalgoorlie Western Australia and have worked most of my adult life in the history/museum industry. I have been passionate about history for as long as I can remember and in particular the history of my adopted home the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia. Through my website I am committed to providing as many records and photographs free to any one who is interested in the family and local history of the region.

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