When driving to Perth from Kalgoorlie, you may have seen a sign on the left not long after the Yellowdine Road House and before Moorine Rock, directing you to Mt Palmer. But have you ever ventured there ??? In 1935 it was thought that Palmers Find (AKA Mt Palmer), 23 miles from Southern Cross, would become the centre of a major gold-producing area.
Google Maps
Late in 1934, Augustus Palmer, a prospector of many years of experience, erected a 20-head battery there and by 1935 was providing employment for 130 men. This saw the virgin bush transform into a hive of industry. A townsite a mile square was surveyed, and five streets were named. The majority of the town lots were sold, and the building was going on apace. A few months later saw a regular town in place of the previous canvas city with its own municipal authority in control of civic affairs.
Southern Cross News 2 May 1941, page 4
Some 67 residential blocks were auctioned at the Southern Cross Courthouse, raising £3,969 for land that was worthless a few months earlier, and destined to be worthless again when the gold ran out a few years later. The average price per lot was £40-£50. The surveyor reserved areas for a post office, police station, public hall, and churches. The town boasted boarding houses, bakeries, butchers, a school, and a medicine shop. As well, there were three billiard saloons where two-up, dice, and SP betting were conducted. Consequently, a grand hotel was planned for the centre of the town.
The above is an artist’s impression of the front elevation of the proposed Palmers Find Hotel.
The Beginning- Sunday Times, Perth – 11 August 1935
Newly Completed Palmers Find Hotel – Shire of Yilgarn
The End – Daily News – Perth 7 June 1947, page 6
Kalgoorlie — Preliminary work has started on the erection of a modern store in Hannan Street for Selfridges (W.A) Ltd. The building of the new premises will be from old material recovered from the deserted Mt. Palmer Hotel. The Mt Palmer/Palmers Find hotel was opened on the 18th of December 1936. However, this splendid building was to have a short life. In only a decade it went from opulence to desertion.
In 1947, the very first chain store was approved to be built in Hannan Street, Kalgoorlie. However, the main problem was the lack of building materials. In May of 1947, a Perth businessman bought, sight unseen, the now deserted hotel at Palmer’s Find at a cost of $8,000. It was at this time the only building left in the town. The building was made up of 200,000 bricks. Only 80,000 bricks were needed for the new store in Kalgoorlie, and the balance of 120,000 bricks was offered to the State Housing Commission to build 5 new houses in Kalgoorlie. The store was what is now the Bank West building at 215 Hannan Street and was the first air-conditioned commercial premises on the Goldfields.
All that remains of the Palmers Find Hotel – Photo Cockburn 4WD Club
References: Shire of Yilgarn (website) – Book ‘Yellowdine’ by Delys Howlett – TROVE – State Heritage WA.
Recommended further reading on the area: Yellowdine Reen’s Soak, Bronti, Kellandi, and Mt Palmer Treasures in the bush by Delys Howlett – Available from the Shire of Yilgarn.
Moya Sharp
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