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Big Bell is a ghost town in
Western AustraliaWestern Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. Australia's largest state and the second largest subnational entity in the world, it has 2.2 million inhabitants , 85% of whom live in the south-west corner of the state.The state's capital...
near the town of
CueCue is a small town in the Mid West region of Western Australia, located 650 km north-east of Perth. At the 2006 census, Cue had a population of 273. It is also known as the Queen of the Murchison. Cue is administered through the Cue Shire Council, which has its chambers in the historic Gentlemans...
.
Mining ceased in 2003 and the plant was deconstructed and transported to the
Westonia minesiteWestonia is a small town located in the Eastern Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, 10 kilometres north of the Great Eastern Highway. It is the main town in the Shire of Westonia.-History:...
in 2007.
It is a former railway branch terminus in
Western AustraliaWestern Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. Australia's largest state and the second largest subnational entity in the world, it has 2.2 million inhabitants , 85% of whom live in the south-west corner of the state.The state's capital...
's Murchison Region. 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 AustraliaAs 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 hotel was built in 1938 was said to have the longest bar in Australia at the time; it was 32 metres long....
.
In 1902
Herbert HooverHerbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted government intervention under the rubric "economic...
, the 31st
President of the United StatesThe President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition...
, was a company representative at the Big Bell open cut gold mine.
Further reading
- O'Sullivan, Mardie.The Big Bell Hotel, 1937-1987 , 1988
- Warne, L. Big Bell 1904-1954 : some historical notes of interest. [Big Bell, W.A.] : Big Bell Historical Committee, 1954.
External links