Linda is the site of an old

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

in the

Linda Valley Linda Valley is a valley in the West Coast Range (Tasmania), West Coast Range of Tasmania. It was earlier known as the Vale of Chamouni. It is located between Mount Owen, Tasmania, Mount Owen and Mount Lyell, Tasmania, Mount Lyell. Human settle ...

in the

West Coast Range The West Coast Range is a mountain range located in the West Coast, Tasmania, West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia. The range lies to the west and north of the main parts of the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park. The range has h ...

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. It has also been known as ''Linda Valley''.

North Mount Lyell

There had been a location or community high on the ridge between Mount Owen and Mount Lyell above the Linda Valley to the west known as North Mount Lyell and in Blainey's

The Peaks of Lyell ''The Peaks of Lyell'' is a book by Geoffrey Blainey, based on his University of Melbourne MA thesis that was originally published in 1954. It contains the history of the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company, and through association, Queens ...

, the photograph has the caption "The site of North Lyell town, blasted away to form the modern open cut". When North Mount Lyell was taken over by

Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company was a Tasmanian mining company formed on 29 March 1893, most commonly referred to as ''Mount Lyell''. Mount Lyell was the dominant copper mining company of the West Coast from 1893 to 1994, and was based in ...

in 1903, Linda was quickly reduced in significance. Eventually most residents moved to either Gormanston, or Queenstown the nearby Mount Lyell towns.

Facilities

Linda Post Office opened on 18 December 1899 and closed in 1966. The Royal Hotel was built during 1901, was destroyed by fire in 1910 and rebuilt. The property was left derelict after 1952 and re-sold in 2020.

Linda railway station

Linda railway station was the terminus of the Linda aerial ropeway and the North Mount Lyell Railway when it was in operation. Copper ore was taken from the mine to smelters at Crotty (now under the waters of Lake Burbury) then the refined metal taken to a port at Pillinger on the shores of

Macquarie Harbour Macquarie Harbour is a shallow fjord in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia. It is approximately , and has an average depth of , with deeper places up to . It is navigable by shallow-draft vessels. The main channel is kept clear by th ...

Kelly Basin Kelly Basin is a bay on the south eastern side of Macquarie Harbour on the West Coast, Tasmania, West Coast of Tasmania. It was named after James Kelly (Australian explorer), James Kelly an early explorer of the Tasmanian coastline. It was the l ...

. The remains of the town are now adjacent to the

Lyell Highway The Lyell Highway (Route A10) is a highway in Tasmania, running from Hobart to Queenstown. It is the one of two transport routes that passes through the West Coast Range, the other being the B28 Anthony Road. Name The name is derived fro ...

east of Queenstown.

Recovery

In the 2020s recovery of the location was in motion with activity at the hotel site which was brought in 2021 and has been developed as ''Linda Cafe'' .

North Mount Lyell

Facilities

Linda railway station

Recovery

See also

References

Further reading