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xenithThis is Zeehan.
There is something that fascinates me about this town, ever since my first visit ten years ago. We'd come through Tullah, and stopped at Rosbery for some photos. Then we're driving along the main street of Zeehan, which is rather long, but not unlike the other towns with miners cottages and the occasional hotel or small shop, until we get to--
--this part, with its big, beautiful, elaborate buildings and around that corner--
--they stop. It's like town just ends.
That place at the end is a hardware shop (see next photo). The scene is even more odd when you later look at images like this. It is the same stretch of road, but facing the other way (you can see the Gaiety theatre, the green & cream place now, at the rear, on the left). A boom and bust town indeed.
The population now is 750 people. At its peak, well, I've seen different figures thrown about so I had a quick look through Trove to see if I could get some idea from contemporary accounts. I found a few interesting bits and pieces so I'll share them instead. The opening paragraphs are from a Mercury article about the development of mining in the west. It's gives the background to the towns' settlement. Then there's some snippets showing the rise and fall. Then the photos continue :)
(For comparison with the population of the two cities, in 1899 Launceston hadn't yet made it to 20,000 people and Hobart was almost at the staggering total of 30,000 people. )
"The parties here divided, Monks and Johnston going in one direction, and [Frank] Long and [William] Healy in another. The latter couple broke through the bush to a small creek, close to which now stands the Zeehan Post and Telegraph Office, in tho heart of the township. While blind-stabbing in tho bottom of the creek they got small quantities of gold and silver-lead. Crossing over to the main creek, Long noticed a gossan formation, and after further investigation discovered a lode of silver-lead. This was on the afternoon of December 8, 1882. From an account given to the writer by Long it would appear that this mate did not attribute any great importance to the discovery, as silver lead lodes, on which he had worked in other colonies, had not turned out of much value. Long, however, pegged out an 80-acre section for his company, and Healy followed suit for the Des-patch. Long's section is now known as the Mount Zeehan Mine, and was declared a reward claim. The Despatch adjoins it.
"Taking specimens home to the camp, Monks and Johnston were informed of the find, and on the following day they pegged out various other sections on the same line of lode. They then returned to Waratah, arriving there about January 7, 1883. Their reports and the samples displayed caused a temporary excitement there, as also at Launceston, when the specimens were handed over to the legal manager of the Arthur and Long Plains Association, Mr. Henry Turner, but it soon died out. . . .It was not until some years later, at the time of the Broken Hill discoveries, that interest in the Zeehan silver fields revived." In 1887 the Silver Queen lode was discovered by George Renison Bell and Samuel Jackson.
THE "MUSHROOM" TOWNSHIP.
Almost as rapid as the growth of a mushroom the township of Zeehan sprang up, and on November 27, 1890, the land was thrown open for settlement, the Commissioner being Mr. E.H. Fowell. A court house, post and telegraph office, Church of England, Roman Catholic Church, Wesleyan, Congregational, and Primitive Methodist churches, with Salvation Army barracks, were soon erected. In September, 1889, the Van Diemen's Land branch bank was started, and a large amount of business transacted until August 3, 1891, when the V.D.L. Bank suspended operations.
In 1889 Mr. Dunn, who then had his home at Devonport, was the first commercial traveller to visit Zeehan, where the silver boom had started. ... There was only one hotel at Zeehan. With the rapidly increasing population, business at Zeehan was keen and Mr. Dunn booked orders for over £900 worth of goods -- a record for one trip. Three months later, on his next visit, the growth of Zeehan was most marked. Another three or four hotels had been erected, as well as accommodation houses, with, of course, a number of shops.
1889: There were 130 people living in Zeehan, only four of them females.
In June 1892 there was a gold rush. Miners from Ring River came to Zeehan with tales of the gold they had found at Brooke's Creek, close to the Mt. Read Reefing Co. property. But during August, 1891. the settlement suffered a great setback. Business was flourishing and new buildings were being erected, when, without warning, the town was plunged into bankruptcy. The Bank of Van Diemen's Land, which held as much money as all the local banks combined, posted a notice in its window stating that it would be closed until further notice.
1896: The population of Zeehan alone numbered over 6,000 people.
1899: With a population of over 8,000 Zeehan has but five policemen, made up of a sub-inspector, a sergeant, a bailiff, and two constables. Considering the heavy work to be done this is not enough. Two men more, at least, are required. Miners, as a rule, are respectable law-abiding citizens, and give no trouble to "the man in blue." But just now the population of Zeehan is nightly--especially Saturday night--augmented by a fair sprinkling of navvies from the neighbouring works of the Emu Bay railway, whose actions very frequently require supervision, for the average navvy in the precincts of a pub. is peculiarly lively and sportive. Zeehan Main street is a mile and a half to two miles long, over which are dotted fourteen hotels, and, generally, there is but one policeman on duty at night to maintain good order and the protection of property.
The Advocate gives figures from the 1901 census for the main areas of population:
Hobart and suburbs, 27,190
Launceston and suburbs, 19,568
Queenstown, 5,051
Zeehan, 5,014.
Devonport, East and West, 2,774.
Beaconsfield, 2,655.
1910: Of late the population has decreased somewhat, owing to the depression caused by the closing down of the Tasmanian Smelters. At present the population of the town, judging by the number of houses occupied in Zeehan, may be anything between five and six thousand. The town is built on the flats between the hills. The streets are well looked after, there being about 35 miles of macadamised roads. The most imposing building is the Post Office. By its side is the School of Mines, an admirable technical school in which all the useful subjects, such as mathematics, assaying, mechanical chemistry, etc., are taught. It also possesses a most complete mineral collection, while is well worth viewing. Many hotels, in which the best of accommodation is provided for the visitor, are scattered over the town. The two theatres--the Gaiety and the Theatre Royal--stand in the heart of the town.
1922: Zeehan continues to lose citizens and houses are still being removed to other parts. No less than six cottages removed is the record for the past fortnight. Half a dozen of the oldest families are due to join the outward tide at an early date.
1932: It is hard to reconcile the silent and decadent town of today with the thriving young city of 30 years ago.
1947 census figures:
Hobart 56,640
Launceston 37,717
.
.
.
Zeehan 2468
1948: Zeehan now has a population of 700, its inhabitants lost in the great rambling town. Many houses are falling into ruin. Gaps of ugly barren ground separate them from one another. Everywhere there is evidence of the wholesale desertion which occurred when the mines were closed. Settlers left in hundreds, taking their houses with them, leaving behind nothing more than an old stove, a chimney, or just a few bricks.
1950: Zeehan, with a population of nearly 1,000, has a hotel for about each 200 persons. In the heyday of the town, when it was the third largest in the State, 16 hotels graced its Main St. However, with the closing down of mines from 1908 onwards, the hotel numbers declined, until there are now only five left.
1954: Zeehan, a ghost town of deserted houses, with palatial hotel and boom built cinema, never ceases to hope for the return of the days when the silver king ruled it as Tasmania's third city after Frank Long, in 1862, discovered galena, or silver lead, on Pea-Soup Creek. Before the first German war, Zeehan's people numbered 11,000; the population was about 800 at the end of World War II.
Also in 1954, an Advocate story quoting figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics gives the population as 1460.
Now the photo tour, and this end of town is a good place to start. I don't know what that place on the left was built as.
The Gaiety Theatre comes with a lot of superlatives (like being the biggest concert hall in the country when it was built) and a list of people who are said to have performed there (from Houdini to Dame Nelllie Melba). Whatever the real story, I do know it was built during the boom of the 1890s as a theatre and hotel (accommodation was upstairs) and it is a interesting place to look through (or sit and watch a film).
Next door is the former police station and court house. The sign on the door says:
The Zeehan Court House stood on this lot from 1897 and in 1903 the brick Police building was added to the front of the weatherboard Court House. Fire destroyed the original Court House building in 1959 and the section from rebuilt in 1960 and closed in the late 1970's.
All Court proceedings were then moved to Queenstown.
To the rear of the Court House and behind the Post and Telegraph Office, in the area now occupied by the Blacksmiths Shop stood the Police cells and Constables Cottage.
Both these buildings are now part of the pioneer museum in the heritage centre.
"The most imposing building is the Post Office."
The old School of Mines building is now home to West Coast Heritage Centre. I seem to recall that's not the original School of Mines building but I've lost my brochure. The date above the door is 1892 and the facade is not, so I guess I remember correctly :)
The museum in the heritage centre has steam trains, and mining equipment, and a miners cottage, and blacksmith's shop, and lots of vehicles, and the theatre, and courthouse, and a Masonic centre and a recreated mine. And that's just outside the main building. Inside there is a very good photographic display of the west coast towns, "a most complete mineral collection", more mining displays, a room of stone tools, a railway car (a car, not a carriage) an assay room and....
On the other side of the road there are some shops.
I think there's just the two hotels now. This is Central Hotel.
A park, obviously :)
From the logos near the door, that seems to be the scout and/or guide hall.
Former municipal chambers. Now I think it's a health centre.
Police station and library
Second hotel. I was trying to take a photo of the clouds but camera kept showing me a uniform blue sky no matter what I did. It wasn't until I was able to look at photos on the computer that I saw it was getting the clouds right. I know the camera display image isn't very reliable but I still believe it.
Zeehan Catholic Church, on the main street
The (former?) Anglican Church is on a side street. I don't think it's still in use and services are actually held in an adjoining room.
Fire station, in case you hadn't guessed.
Which reminds me, Zeehan has been threatened by large bushfires a number of times, including 1981 when many homes were destroy and November 2012
The RSL Club, with its war memorial and Aleppo pine is actually back at the other end of the main street, beyond the shops.
Some older photos in case they're of interest.
A town in the making: houses, shops, hotel
An early shop (maybe the first one).
Laying of tramway in the main street
Another view of main street (kids all in white look out of place)
There is also a lovely series of postcards from about 1900 of showing the inside of the hospital.
There is something that fascinates me about this town, ever since my first visit ten years ago. We'd come through Tullah, and stopped at Rosbery for some photos. Then we're driving along the main street of Zeehan, which is rather long, but not unlike the other towns with miners cottages and the occasional hotel or small shop, until we get to--
--this part, with its big, beautiful, elaborate buildings and around that corner--
--they stop. It's like town just ends.
That place at the end is a hardware shop (see next photo). The scene is even more odd when you later look at images like this. It is the same stretch of road, but facing the other way (you can see the Gaiety theatre, the green & cream place now, at the rear, on the left). A boom and bust town indeed.
The population now is 750 people. At its peak, well, I've seen different figures thrown about so I had a quick look through Trove to see if I could get some idea from contemporary accounts. I found a few interesting bits and pieces so I'll share them instead. The opening paragraphs are from a Mercury article about the development of mining in the west. It's gives the background to the towns' settlement. Then there's some snippets showing the rise and fall. Then the photos continue :)
(For comparison with the population of the two cities, in 1899 Launceston hadn't yet made it to 20,000 people and Hobart was almost at the staggering total of 30,000 people. )
"The parties here divided, Monks and Johnston going in one direction, and [Frank] Long and [William] Healy in another. The latter couple broke through the bush to a small creek, close to which now stands the Zeehan Post and Telegraph Office, in tho heart of the township. While blind-stabbing in tho bottom of the creek they got small quantities of gold and silver-lead. Crossing over to the main creek, Long noticed a gossan formation, and after further investigation discovered a lode of silver-lead. This was on the afternoon of December 8, 1882. From an account given to the writer by Long it would appear that this mate did not attribute any great importance to the discovery, as silver lead lodes, on which he had worked in other colonies, had not turned out of much value. Long, however, pegged out an 80-acre section for his company, and Healy followed suit for the Des-patch. Long's section is now known as the Mount Zeehan Mine, and was declared a reward claim. The Despatch adjoins it.
"Taking specimens home to the camp, Monks and Johnston were informed of the find, and on the following day they pegged out various other sections on the same line of lode. They then returned to Waratah, arriving there about January 7, 1883. Their reports and the samples displayed caused a temporary excitement there, as also at Launceston, when the specimens were handed over to the legal manager of the Arthur and Long Plains Association, Mr. Henry Turner, but it soon died out. . . .It was not until some years later, at the time of the Broken Hill discoveries, that interest in the Zeehan silver fields revived." In 1887 the Silver Queen lode was discovered by George Renison Bell and Samuel Jackson.
THE "MUSHROOM" TOWNSHIP.
Almost as rapid as the growth of a mushroom the township of Zeehan sprang up, and on November 27, 1890, the land was thrown open for settlement, the Commissioner being Mr. E.H. Fowell. A court house, post and telegraph office, Church of England, Roman Catholic Church, Wesleyan, Congregational, and Primitive Methodist churches, with Salvation Army barracks, were soon erected. In September, 1889, the Van Diemen's Land branch bank was started, and a large amount of business transacted until August 3, 1891, when the V.D.L. Bank suspended operations.
In 1889 Mr. Dunn, who then had his home at Devonport, was the first commercial traveller to visit Zeehan, where the silver boom had started. ... There was only one hotel at Zeehan. With the rapidly increasing population, business at Zeehan was keen and Mr. Dunn booked orders for over £900 worth of goods -- a record for one trip. Three months later, on his next visit, the growth of Zeehan was most marked. Another three or four hotels had been erected, as well as accommodation houses, with, of course, a number of shops.
1889: There were 130 people living in Zeehan, only four of them females.
In June 1892 there was a gold rush. Miners from Ring River came to Zeehan with tales of the gold they had found at Brooke's Creek, close to the Mt. Read Reefing Co. property. But during August, 1891. the settlement suffered a great setback. Business was flourishing and new buildings were being erected, when, without warning, the town was plunged into bankruptcy. The Bank of Van Diemen's Land, which held as much money as all the local banks combined, posted a notice in its window stating that it would be closed until further notice.
1896: The population of Zeehan alone numbered over 6,000 people.
1899: With a population of over 8,000 Zeehan has but five policemen, made up of a sub-inspector, a sergeant, a bailiff, and two constables. Considering the heavy work to be done this is not enough. Two men more, at least, are required. Miners, as a rule, are respectable law-abiding citizens, and give no trouble to "the man in blue." But just now the population of Zeehan is nightly--especially Saturday night--augmented by a fair sprinkling of navvies from the neighbouring works of the Emu Bay railway, whose actions very frequently require supervision, for the average navvy in the precincts of a pub. is peculiarly lively and sportive. Zeehan Main street is a mile and a half to two miles long, over which are dotted fourteen hotels, and, generally, there is but one policeman on duty at night to maintain good order and the protection of property.
The Advocate gives figures from the 1901 census for the main areas of population:
Hobart and suburbs, 27,190
Launceston and suburbs, 19,568
Queenstown, 5,051
Zeehan, 5,014.
Devonport, East and West, 2,774.
Beaconsfield, 2,655.
1910: Of late the population has decreased somewhat, owing to the depression caused by the closing down of the Tasmanian Smelters. At present the population of the town, judging by the number of houses occupied in Zeehan, may be anything between five and six thousand. The town is built on the flats between the hills. The streets are well looked after, there being about 35 miles of macadamised roads. The most imposing building is the Post Office. By its side is the School of Mines, an admirable technical school in which all the useful subjects, such as mathematics, assaying, mechanical chemistry, etc., are taught. It also possesses a most complete mineral collection, while is well worth viewing. Many hotels, in which the best of accommodation is provided for the visitor, are scattered over the town. The two theatres--the Gaiety and the Theatre Royal--stand in the heart of the town.
1922: Zeehan continues to lose citizens and houses are still being removed to other parts. No less than six cottages removed is the record for the past fortnight. Half a dozen of the oldest families are due to join the outward tide at an early date.
1932: It is hard to reconcile the silent and decadent town of today with the thriving young city of 30 years ago.
1947 census figures:
Hobart 56,640
Launceston 37,717
.
.
.
Zeehan 2468
1948: Zeehan now has a population of 700, its inhabitants lost in the great rambling town. Many houses are falling into ruin. Gaps of ugly barren ground separate them from one another. Everywhere there is evidence of the wholesale desertion which occurred when the mines were closed. Settlers left in hundreds, taking their houses with them, leaving behind nothing more than an old stove, a chimney, or just a few bricks.
1950: Zeehan, with a population of nearly 1,000, has a hotel for about each 200 persons. In the heyday of the town, when it was the third largest in the State, 16 hotels graced its Main St. However, with the closing down of mines from 1908 onwards, the hotel numbers declined, until there are now only five left.
1954: Zeehan, a ghost town of deserted houses, with palatial hotel and boom built cinema, never ceases to hope for the return of the days when the silver king ruled it as Tasmania's third city after Frank Long, in 1862, discovered galena, or silver lead, on Pea-Soup Creek. Before the first German war, Zeehan's people numbered 11,000; the population was about 800 at the end of World War II.
Also in 1954, an Advocate story quoting figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics gives the population as 1460.
Now the photo tour, and this end of town is a good place to start. I don't know what that place on the left was built as.
The Gaiety Theatre comes with a lot of superlatives (like being the biggest concert hall in the country when it was built) and a list of people who are said to have performed there (from Houdini to Dame Nelllie Melba). Whatever the real story, I do know it was built during the boom of the 1890s as a theatre and hotel (accommodation was upstairs) and it is a interesting place to look through (or sit and watch a film).
Next door is the former police station and court house. The sign on the door says:
The Zeehan Court House stood on this lot from 1897 and in 1903 the brick Police building was added to the front of the weatherboard Court House. Fire destroyed the original Court House building in 1959 and the section from rebuilt in 1960 and closed in the late 1970's.
All Court proceedings were then moved to Queenstown.
To the rear of the Court House and behind the Post and Telegraph Office, in the area now occupied by the Blacksmiths Shop stood the Police cells and Constables Cottage.
Both these buildings are now part of the pioneer museum in the heritage centre.
"The most imposing building is the Post Office."
The old School of Mines building is now home to West Coast Heritage Centre. I seem to recall that's not the original School of Mines building but I've lost my brochure. The date above the door is 1892 and the facade is not, so I guess I remember correctly :)
The museum in the heritage centre has steam trains, and mining equipment, and a miners cottage, and blacksmith's shop, and lots of vehicles, and the theatre, and courthouse, and a Masonic centre and a recreated mine. And that's just outside the main building. Inside there is a very good photographic display of the west coast towns, "a most complete mineral collection", more mining displays, a room of stone tools, a railway car (a car, not a carriage) an assay room and....
On the other side of the road there are some shops.
I think there's just the two hotels now. This is Central Hotel.
A park, obviously :)
From the logos near the door, that seems to be the scout and/or guide hall.
Former municipal chambers. Now I think it's a health centre.
Police station and library
Second hotel. I was trying to take a photo of the clouds but camera kept showing me a uniform blue sky no matter what I did. It wasn't until I was able to look at photos on the computer that I saw it was getting the clouds right. I know the camera display image isn't very reliable but I still believe it.
Zeehan Catholic Church, on the main street
The (former?) Anglican Church is on a side street. I don't think it's still in use and services are actually held in an adjoining room.
Fire station, in case you hadn't guessed.
Which reminds me, Zeehan has been threatened by large bushfires a number of times, including 1981 when many homes were destroy and November 2012
The RSL Club, with its war memorial and Aleppo pine is actually back at the other end of the main street, beyond the shops.
Some older photos in case they're of interest.
A town in the making: houses, shops, hotel
An early shop (maybe the first one).
Laying of tramway in the main street
Another view of main street (kids all in white look out of place)
There is also a lovely series of postcards from about 1900 of showing the inside of the hospital.
