Gudarra is an

abandoned Abandon, abandoned, or abandonment may refer to: Common uses * Abandonment (emotional), a subjective emotional state in which people feel undesired, left behind, insecure, or discarded * Abandonment (legal), a legal term regarding property ** Chi ...

town in the Goldfields-Esperance region of

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 ...

. It is situated between

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area includ ...

and

Menzies Menzies is a Scottish surname, with Gaelic forms being Méinnearach and Méinn, and other variant forms being Menigees, Mennes, Mengzes, Menzeys, Mengies, and Minges. Derivation and history The name and its Gaelic form are probably derived f ...

off the

Goldfields Highway Goldfields Highway is a generally northwest–southeast highway in central Western Australia which links the Great Northern Highway at Meekatharra with Coolgardie-Esperance Highway south of Kalgoorlie. The highway is approximately in length, ...

. The present-day

Paddington Gold Mine The Paddington Gold Mine is a gold mine located 5 km south of Broad Arrow, and 30 km north of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. It is operated by Norton Gold Fields Limited, having acquired the mine from Barrick Gold on 25 August 2007 ...

is located near the old townsite.

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 initially discovered in the area in 1892, with the place first called the Sore Foot Rush, as a result of the limping

prospector Prospector may refer to: Space exploration * Prospector (spacecraft), a planned lunar probe, canceled in 1962 * '' Lunar Prospector'', a NASA spacecraft Trains * Prospector (train), a passenger train operated by the Denver & Rio Grande Western ...

s who arrived on news of the discovery. The name of the town was later changed to Paddington and gazetted using that name on 4 February 1897. By 1911 the Commonwealth government was attempting to remove duplicated town names so the town was renamed and regazetted in 1912 as Gudarra. The town's name is Aboriginal in origin and its meaning is not known. Deep leads were found in 1894, 1898 and 1901 and some of the mines that existed in the area were Paddington Consuls, Mt Corlic, Star of WA, and Pakeha. The Paddington Consuls mine was by far the largest and employed over 400 men at its peak until it went into

liquidation Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a company is brought to an end in Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and many other countries. The assets and property of the company are redistrib ...

in 1901. Paddington had its own municipality, the

Municipality of Paddington The Municipality of Paddington was a local government area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The municipality was proclaimed on 17 April 1860 and, with an area of 1.7 square kilometres, included the entire suburb of Paddington and parts of ...

from 1901 to 1903, which amalgamated with Broad Arrow to form the

Municipality of Broad Arrow-Paddington The Municipality of Broad Arrow-Paddington was a local government area in Western Australia centred on the mining towns of Broad Arrow and Paddington (now Gudarra). It was established on 23 October 1903 with the amalgamation of the Municipality ...

until 1910. A church was built in 1898 and the town boasted six hotels in 1898 with only one remaining by 1910. A police station and court were established in town in 1899 with the lock up possibly having come from Black Flag; the police quarters were delivered from Black Flag in 1900 with the stables being brought from

Broad Arrow A broad arrow, of which a pheon is a variant, is a stylised representation of a metal arrowhead, comprising a tang and two barbs meeting at a point. It is a symbol used traditionally in heraldry, most notably in England, and later by the Brit ...

in 1901. The station was closed in 1910 with the detective office being moved to

Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In c ...

in 1911.

References

{{authority control Ghost towns in Western Australia Goldfields-Esperance