Big Bell is a

ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

located approximately south west of the town of Cue. The town was established in 1936, and was home to the

Big Bell Gold Mine The Big Bell Gold Mine is a gold mine located at Big Bell, 24 km north-west of Cue, Western Australia.

.History of country town names – B

Landgate The Western Australian Land Information Authority operates under the business name of Landgate. Formerly known as the Department of Land Information (DLI), the Department of Land Administration (DOLA) and the Department of Lands and Surveys ( ...

website, retrieved 25 January 2010

History

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

was discovered in the area in 1904 by Harry Paton and a mine was quickly established. Ownership of the mine has changed a number of times through the years. Premier Gold Mining Company announced plans to develop the Big Bell Mine in 1935. A township was established in 1936 close to the mine to provide accommodation for the mine workers. 36 blocks were sold in April 1936 and another 80 were sold in June. A population of about 850 soon inhabited the townsite and services included a number of shops, a post office and a hospital. One of the proposed names for the town was "Townsend", with the main street to be known as "Coodardy Street". The Big Bell Hotel was constructed and opened in 1937. It was a classic art deco style of the period and is now a ruin. The large two storey building of brick construction has brick colonnading to the north and east facades and a curved corner and once had a tiled roof. Mining ceased in 2003 and the plant was dismantled and transported to the Westonia minesite in 2007. It is a former railway branch terminus in

Murchison Region The Murchison is an interim Australian bioregion located within the Mid West of Western Australia. The bioregion is loosely related to the catchment area of the Murchison River and has an area of . Traditionally the region is known as ''Th ...

. The first train arrived in Big Bell on 6 January 1937, however the line was not officially opened until 12 August that year. Services ceased from September 1944, but were revived the following year when the war in Europe was winding down and the gold mine reopened. The line finally closed on 31 December 1955. Not much of the buildings remain, but the roads stay visible in their original position as dirt tracks. It is very visible from an aerial view. The Big Bell hotel reputedly had the

longest bar in Australia As with any such statistic, there are a number of claims for the title "the longest bar in Australia": * Captains Flat, New South Wales: When the new Captains Flat Hotel was built in 1937 was said to have the longest bar in Australia at the ti ...

History

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Further reading