Hundreds abandoned this town overnight. Two dozen residents are saving it from extinction
A once-abandoned town sitting 833 kilometres from Perth would scarcely exist right now if it were not for the determination of its remaining residents.
Gwalia lost almost all of its population overnight in 1963 after the Sons of Gwalia gold mine suddenly shut down.
Wendy Carter, Vanessa Williams (middle) and Terry Demasson are keeping Gwalia alive. Supplied
Do you have a story? Contact reporter April Glover at april.glover@nine.com.au
Hundreds of workers and their families fled for greener pastures and the once thriving town was all but deserted.
But Wendy Carter, Vanessa Williams and Terry Demasson have been helping keep their beloved Gwalia alive.
The trio represent one eighth of Gwalia’s entire population of two dozen people.
Demasson said Gwalia transformed into a “ghost town” within days of the mine closing and nearly 1200 people moved away, many to Kalgoorlie-Boulder.
They left so hastily that many homes stayed untouched, like an eerie time machine from 1963, for decades.
“There was no unemployment income back then, you had to work, so everyone left, because the only place they could get work was Kalgoorlie,” Demasson told nine.com.au.
“Then the hotel closed, the store closed, the swimming pool closed, everything closed that was of any importance to the people that actually remained here.”
The mine was running at a loss when it closed, but it was once the historic settlement’s cash cow.
It was even managed by Herbert Hoover between 1929 and 1933, who went on to become the 31st President of the United States.
Gwalia transformed into a “ghost town” within days of the mine closing. Supplied
Demasson was a young mining trainee and blew the whistle on the day the Sons of Gwalia closed over 60 years ago.
He watched Gwalia deteriorate into a virtual ghost town for decades, the community frozen in time.
“All of Gwalia left, except for about 23 people,” Demasson added.
“My family got here in 1903, so we just stayed on.”
A handful of other loyal residents remained over the years to stop Gwalia from being fully absorbed by nearby Leonora.
The WA government refused to gazette the site in the late 1800s, which would officially honour it as a town, arguing it was a replication of everything Leonora had to offer just 3.4 kilometres away.
Technically, it is a part of the Shire of Leonora.
There are families trying to move here, or trying to come back, but there’s no room.
“Gwalia people were a bit miffed about that,” Carter explained.
Gazetted or not, Gwalia is still on the map.
Williams is a fifth-generation local with has a rare Gwalia address on her driver’s license.
“I lived in Perth for a chunk of time, and then I saw the light and went home,” she laughed.
“The sense of community out here is unreal.
“There’s something really special about walking into the local supermarket, just saying g’day to everyone because you know everyone. It’s priceless.”
Inside Ivor’s Camp, a mining cottage in Gwalia. Supplied
‘There’s no room’ in Gwalia
Meanwhile, Carter is a fresh arrival to Gwalia after moving in early 2026.
It is rare that newcomers arrive and make a home in the tiny “ghost town”. It is difficult for Gwalia to grow its tiny two-dozen population.
Only 12 homes are currently occupied.
“We actually don’t have enough accommodation. There are families trying to move here, or trying to come back but there’s no room,” Williams said.
“And that is a big problem.”
A $3.3 million renovation of the Gwalia Ghost Town & Museum, which had been operating since the 1970s, was the elixir that saved the town from near-extinction.
The project restored the Gwalia settlement’s 22 traditional miners’ cottages and reconstructed a famous large timber incline headframe.
Visitors can stay in Hoover House, a bed and breakfast named after former President Hoover.
Carter, Williams and Demasson are part of a team of volunteers who run the museum and keep tourist dollars flowing into the town.
“But tourism has been a bit slack this year, numbers have really dropped down due to the price of diesel and the availability of it,” Carter explained.
“Having people live out there means that we protect the old, the old heritage houses that are part of the tourist precinct,” Williams added.
“And it stops further deterioration of the other houses.”
The cottages are available for visitors to tour. But Gwalia is a mixed bag of homes frozen in time and actual residences.
’I’ve definitely had some people in the backyard before,” Williams said.
“I do remind tourists there are people who live in Gwalia. There’s 24 of us who live here,” Wendy added.
Gwalia swimming pool opened in 1942 and closed in 1964. Supplied
Future of homes uncertain
Gwalia homeowners were offered 99-year leases after the government decided not to gazette the town.
WIlliams said residents are “still paying the price” for this decision over a century on as many households are facing the expiration of these leases.
She and her father Norm offered $2000 for a 99-year lease on a former miner’s cottage that was earmarked for demolition last year.
“[A lot of the leases] are rolling over now, getting to that point in time where they’ve passed 99 years, or they’re coming close to 99 years,” she said.
“We’re trying to negotiate with the departments, the local council and the mine site.
“It is a bit unknown. We all bought our houses in good faith.”
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