Kalgoorlie, Western Australia The tale of Hannan, Flanagan and Shea "In January of 1893, three Irish prospectors named Patrick Hannan, Tom Flanagan and Dan O’Shea were on their way to a town called Coolgardi, W.A., where gold had been discovered. The party had to stop after one of their horses had cast a shoe. During this chance interlude the men spotted several signs of gold in the area. They were traveling with another party of prospectors and feigned an escaped horse so they could stay behind and keep their discovery a secret. They found numerous alluvial gold nuggets in the area. "Prospectors from all over Australia, and even other parts of the world, heard of the discovery and flocked to the area. They lived in ramshackle huts made out of canvas and iron for an extended period of time just to hunt down the gold. Nearly 100 hotels and 8 breweries were put up. In 1898, the town known as Kalgoorlie (back then called Hannan’s) had 2,018 people. After 5 years, the population swelled to around 30,000 people, and grew into the nearby town of Boulder, hence today it is known as Kalgoorlie-Boulder." Due to the lack of water in the area, mining was often done by dry blowing. Typical Miner Camp Kalgoorlie, 1895 The Super Pit mine, located on the south-east edge of Kalgoorlie (pop 29,000) in 2019:.. LINK TO IMAGE
Clearing a right-of-way for the White Pass & Yukon Railway, Skagway, Alaska, June, 1899. There were 4 legs going to wharfs in Skagway. This is near Broad Street. First train to White Pass on the first stage of the White Pass and Yukon Route railway, February 1899 Map of WP&Y route
Centralia, Florida (1910-1922) "In the 1800s a sea of virgin timber blanketed Florida. The low lands and swamps contributed the greatest volume, highest grade, fastest growing, red tide water cypress to be found anywhere in the United States. This wealth of timber seemed inexhaustible and lured men and industry from all corners of the earth. " In 1910 Edgar Roberts founded the Central Cypress Lumber Co. in Hernando County, FL, naming the town that grew up around it after his home of Centralia, Ill. His double band sawmill had an estimated daily cut capacity of 100,000 board feet. To this day the mill has not been surpassed in volume or efficiency. Lathe and shingle mill under construction Rear of the 2 story sawmill Unknown building Drying area. Lumber stored in 15′ stacks Planer mill Narrow gauge railroad used to transport logs from cutting site to float pond. A cut from a cypress tree in Centralia Centralia grew to a population of approximately 1800, the largest town in Hernando County. The prosperous stores, commissary, grocery, dry goods and hardware, carried more stock than any retail store in metropolitan Tampa or Jacksonville at the time. The Centralia Commissary, built by George Gamble. A narrow gauge railroad track came right to the commissary and filled a store room large enough to hold four freight car loads. "Centralia’s life blood flowed from the mill and when the timber was cut out, the town faded into oblivion." Some references: 1, 2, and History of Centralia, Hernando County, Florida (fivay.org) (http: url)
Bald cypress trees along Black Creek in Florida, late 1800s (The slashes were a preparation for drying prior to cutting. So dense!)
" Don't look Beth honey its another short video " lol. The top picture reminds me of one of my favorite songs,{ first and only time Lee Marvin sang ] I think he was walking thru a boomtown.
Nitro, West Virginia When the United States entered World War I, it could not produce enough gunpowder to supply the troops in combat. In emergency session, Congress passed the Deficiency Appropriations Act (October, 1917), which provided for the construction of two explosives plants, each capable of producing 700,000 pounds of gunpowder per day. The location for the first plant was a wide section of bottomland along the Kanawha River, near Charleston, WV. The site offered easy access by railroad and water, and was far enough away from the coast to avoid the risk of being attacked. Construction and operation of the plant would require thousands of workers and places for them to stay. On Dec. 23, 1917 construction of the plant’s twenty-seven 200-bed barracks began. Government records show that more than 110,000 people were on the payroll during the construction of the plant. Among those was soon-to-be actor Clark Gable. In only 11 months, 1,772 acres of pastures and cornfields were transformed into a producing munitions plant. This appears to be housing for employees with the operating plant in the background. As soon as the war ended, the plant stopped production. Within weeks the town’s population dropped from about 23,000 to approximately 12,000. The plant, which had been controlled by the Ordinance Department, was sold and resold to a series of private entities over the years. It was eventually demolished and the area converted to a city park. The population of Nitro was 6618 in the 2020 census.
Sistersville, WV Charles Wells was born in Baltimore, MD, in 1745. Charles, with his wife and 4 children, moved near the tip of the upper panhandle of WV (then Virginia) in 1776. His wife died shortly after giving birth to their 10th child. In 1802 Charles, with his second wife and (now) 20 children, floated approximately 60 miles down the Ohio river in a flatboat to a point later known as Wells Landing. According to Wells family tradition Charles's 20th child was christened Twenty Wells. After the journey down the Ohio the couple added 2 more children, for a total of 22. Charles claimed all the land along the river 5 miles above and below Wells Landing. When he died in 1815 Charles left part of his land to daughters Sarah and Delilah (#17 and #18). The Wells sisters laid out their land into 96 lots with eight streets, for a future town they called Sistersville. Sarah and Delilah many years later Sistersville’s population was estimated to be about 600 by 1888. In 1892 oil was discovered in Pole Cat Hollow 2 miles from Sistersville. Nearly 15,000 people moved into the area. Many lived in houseboats called floating shanties along the riverbanks. Oil derricks appeared even in the backyards of residential sections of town. An enhanced photo taken after Wells Street was paved (ca. 1908) After the oil boom subsided in the early 20th century, Sistersville again became a quiet residential town, with a population of 1,413 in 2020. . . .