View from the Broad Arrow Tavern of the water tower

Broad Arrow
Gold ghost town north of Kalgoorlie
Located 38 km north of Kalgoorlie and 633 km east of Perth, Broad Arrow is a very typical Goldfields ghost town. It was once a thriving and successful gold mining town it is now a shadow of its former glory. Perhaps its current status is best summed up by the fact that it is part of Kalgoorlie's popular 'Ghost Town Tour'.

Known originally as Kurawah it is said that Broad Arrow changed its name in 1893 because a prospector, having found gold in the area, marked the route to the spot with a series of Broad Arrows.

Like so many gold towns Broad Arrow experienced a spectacular boom and an equally spectacular bust. The gold rush started in 1893, the railway arrived (from Kalgoorlie) and the town was gazetted in 1896, and the following year the municipality of Kurawah came into existence.

At its peak Broad Arrow had 8 hotels, (although some were little more than shanties), a cordial factory and two breweries, a hospital and, remarkably, its own stock exchange. By the mid-1920s the rush was over and the miners had all disappeared or retreated to Kalgoorlie.

Things to see:  

Broad Arrow Tavern

Broad Arrow Tavern
The town's solitary hotel, the Broad Arrow Tavern, built in 1896, is a reminder of its past glory. It was featured in the little remembered The Nickel Queen, a movie made in 1971 starring Googie Withers.