Bulong – The I.O.U – ghost town

Bulong Latitude 30° 43′ Longitude 121° 59′ A goldfields town about 34 kilometers east of Kalgoorlie, Bulong was gazetted in 1895. After the discovery of gold in this vicinity the area became known as “I.O.U” which was the name of a mine or a gold-mining lease. In October 1894 surveyor G.C.Hamilton was instructed to lay […]

Bulong’s Woodline 1908-1918 by Rod Milne

The following article is re produced with the kind permission of the author RRod Milne and the Light Railway Research Society of Australia Inc . The article first appeared in the publication, ‘Light Railways’ June 2014. A rare photograph of a loaded wood train posed at Kurramia. Motive power is almost certainly ex WAGR G […]

Bulong’s Battery, boom to bust  – by David Whiteford

The following article is re produced with the kind permission of the author David Whiteford and the Light Railway Research Society of Australia Inc . The article first appeared in the publication, ‘Light Railways’ April 2010.   Contemporary map, showing the route of the tramway as surveyed. To aid legibility, the route has been overlaid […]

John Holt – grave tales

There are roughly 94 burials in the Bulong Cemetery, but only 17 identifiable headstone. By far the most impressive of these and the best preserved, is the memorial to John Holt. As you will see no expense was spared. After the Christian cross, the urn is one of the most commonly used cemetery monuments. The […]

Elizabeth P Halford – pioneer profile

In 1903, Elizabeth Halford and her husband and family decided to make a fresh start in Western Australia after some disastrous farming seasons in South Australia. Mrs Halford was born Elizabeth Patience SHEPPEARD, the daughter of a Royal Navy paymaster and his wife and married William Henry HALFORD in 1881. They had three sons and […]