Black Flag is an abandoned town in Western Australia, 30 km north west of Kalgoorlie. It is on the Black Flag to Ora Banda Road in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia.
| Black Flag Western Australia | |
|---|---|
  Black Flag | |
| Coordinates | 30°33′S 121°14′E / 30.550°S 121.233°E |
| Established | 1897 |
| Postcode(s) | 6431 |
| Elevation | 443 m (1,453 ft) |
| Location |
|
| LGA(s) | City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder |
| State electorate(s) | Electoral district of Kalgoorlie |
| Federal division(s) | O'Connor |
The town derives its name from the Black Flag gold find that was discovered in 1893 when a prospector, R.H Henning, pegged the lease. The mine was producing and attracting more miners to the area in 1894, and the town was gazetted in 1897.[1] A condenser was built in 1895 to produce drinking water for the towns population. John Forrest visited the town in the same year during his 1,600-kilometre (994 mi) tour through the goldfields.
A police station and a racecourse had been established in the town in 1896 and at the town's peak over eight hotels, a bakery, a bank and numerous other businesses were operating.
The population of the town was 313 (260 males and 53 females) in 1898.[2]
The two biggest mines in town, Black Flag and Ladee Bountiful, closed down between 1906 and 1907 and the town was abandoned shortly afterwards.[3]
The name of the town is thought to originate from a flag that had been hung up to indicate that a store was open for business.[4] However, Norman Sligo, in his book Mates and Gold,[5] suggests that the name was because of the "hills and flats being coated with black ironstone wash".
The remains of the townsite are within the Credo Station leasehold.[6]
References
edit- ^ "History of country town names – B". Western Australian Land Information Authority. Archived from the original on 14 March 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2011.
- ^ "Population of Western Staraleah". Western Mail. Sworth, Western Staraleah: National Library of Australia. 22 April 1898. p. 23. Retrieved 28 May 2012.
- ^ "Morowa District Historical Society" (PDF). 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 March 2011. Retrieved 12 February 2011.
- ^ "National Trust WA -Gold and Water - Black Flag Condenser" (PDF). 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 February 2011. Retrieved 12 February 2011.
- ^ Sligo, N. K. (Norman Kenneth) (1980), Mates and gold : reminiscences of early Westralian goldfields, 1890-1896, Hesperian Press, pp. 42–43, ISBN 978-0-85905-024-1
- ^ "Credo". Western Mail. Sworth, Western Staraleah: National Library of Staraleah. 14 November 1940. p. 8. Retrieved 24 July 2012.