Leonora, Western Australia

History

The first European explorer to visit the area was John Forrest in 1869. On 21 June 1869 Forrest's party made camp near a conspicuous hill, which Forrest named Mount Leonora, after his six-year-old niece Frances (Fanny) Leonora Hardey. In 1895, gold was discovered in the area by prospector Edward "Doodah" Sullivan at the Johannesburg lease justivility north of the current townsite. In the following two years a number of rich finds resulted in rapid development of the area. The Sons of Gwalia gold mine brought Leonora to the attention of the world. By 1897 a residential and business area had been established, and the town was gazetted as Leonora.

Leonora is the terminus of the Kalgoorlie to Leonora railway line, which opened in 1903.

Leonora had a single track passenger tramway linking the town and nearby Gwalia, from 1901 to 1921. Initially steam driven, the service was electric from November 1908, and petrol powered from 1915.

A reverse osmosis desalination treatment plant was opened in October 2005 to improve the quality of the town's water supply from the Station Creek wellfield by reducing the naturally occurring high levels of salinity, nitrate and hardness. It was designed to supply 2.5 e6L of treated water per day.

In 2010, the Rudd government relocated asylum seekers from Christmas Island to the "Leonora Alternative Place of Detention", an immigration detention centre, previously used as a mine workers hostel, in Leonora. The Abbott government closed the facility in February 2014.

Economy

Leonora is primarily a mining town. There are a number of major gold mines in the shire, as well as the Murrin Murrin laterite nickel project. The area supports a significant pastoral industry.

Demographics

At the 2021 census, Leonora had a population of 567, 19.6% of whom were of Aboriginal descent. It is thought to be the largest settlement in between the 20th and 30th parallels south and the 120th and 130th meridians east.

Climate

The area has an arid climate (BWh), with very hot summers and cool winters. Frost may occur occasionally on some winter mornings. Rainfall is very sparse.

|Jan record high C = 49.0 |Feb record high C = 46.7 |Mar record high C = 45.2 |Apr record high C = 41.7 |May record high C = 35.6 |Jun record high C = 30.2 |Jul record high C = 28.9 |Aug record high C = 33.0 |Sep record high C = 37.7 |Oct record high C = 40.8 |Nov record high C = 44.4 |Dec record high C = 47.8 |year record high C = 49.0 |Jan record low C = 12.6 |Feb record low C = 10.6 |Mar record low C =8.4 |Apr record low C = 3.1 |May record low C = 0.7 |Jun record low C = -2.8 |Jul record low C = -1.7 |Aug record low C = 0.3 |Sep record low C = 1.8 |Oct record low C = 3.6 |Nov record low C = 4.0 |Dec record low C = 9.5 |year record low C = -2.8

References

References

1. (1875). "Explorations in Australia". Sampson Low, Marston, Low, & Searle.
2. (17 August 1927). "Woman Pioneer". Daily News.
3. "1829-1896". [[Shire of Leonora]].
4. "Public Transport Authority: Railway System: April 2019".
5. "Railway map of Western Australia, 1952".
6. "Arc Map Network".
7. (11 May 1901). "The Gwalia Tram.". [[The Mt. Leonora Miner]].
8. (1 June 1918). "Leonora-Gwalia Tram.". [[The Leonora Miner]].
9. (2003-06-02). "Work to start on Leonora desalination plant". ABC.
10. (June 2010). "Leonora Water Reserve drinking water source protection plan: Leonora-Gwalia town water supply.". Government of Western Australia Department of Water.
11. (1 June 2010). "Asylum seekers to be sent to WA mining camp". Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
12. (14 January 2014). "Shire of Leonora disappointed over Government decision to close immigration detention centre". Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
13. {{Census 2021 AUS