Gormanston is a town in Tasmania on the slopes of Mount Owen, above the town of Queenstown in Tasmania's West Coast. At the 2016 Gormanston had a population of 17. [1]
It lies at the shoulder between Mount Lyell and Mount Owen and is south or "up the hill" from an equally abandoned community, the remains of the townsite of Linda which is at the northern side of the Linda Valley.
It was built as the company town for the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company operations at the Iron Blow open cut copper mine and later also became the location of the short lived terminus of the North Mount Lyell Railway at Gormanston railway station before it closed. [2]
It may have been named in honour of Jenico Preston, 14th Viscount Gormanston, Governor of Tasmania 1893–1900.
Mount Lyell Post Office opened on 1 January 1891, was renamed Gormanston in 1894 and closed in 1979. [3]
It is the only remaining townsite that lies in effect 'in' the West Coast Range.
It was a major settlement of employees of the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company, especially of those who were employed at parts of its workings that were located in the North Lyell and open cut areas. At the peak of its population and importance, Gormanston had its own local government authority, of which mine manager R. M. Murray was the long-standing Warden. [4] The company also had a daily bus to take workers down to the mine and plant in Queenstown.
It was the nearest community to the 1912 North Mount Lyell Disaster and was used as a base by company officials attending to this disaster. [5]
Considerable numbers of buildings have been removed to other locations, and the local government authority was absorbed into the new 'West Coast Council' and the adjacent Mount Lyell workings have been closed down.
It is the closest settlement to Lake Burbury, a hydro created lake from the damming of the King River.
There are currently no other settlement or other buildings on the Lyell Highway towards Hobart until Derwent Bridge.
There are booklets available in the Galley Museum in Queenstown, that give historical information about the town in its heyday, and in particular lists of registered inhabitants in the early 1900s.
Queenstown is a town in the West Coast region of the island of Tasmania, Australia. It is in a valley on the western slopes of Mount Owen on the West Coast Range.
The King River is a major perennial river in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia.
Rosebery is a town on the west coast of Tasmania, Australia. It is at the northern end of the West Coast Range, in the shadow of Mount Black and adjacent to the Pieman River now Lake Pieman.
Zeehan is a town on the west coast of Tasmania, Australia 139 kilometres (86 mi) south-west of Burnie. It is located north of Strahan, Tasmania and Queenstown, Tasmania.
The West Coast Range is a mountain range located in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia.
Mount Lyell is a mountain in the West Coast Range of Western Tasmania, Australia.
Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company was a Tasmanian mining company formed on 29 March 1893, most commonly referred to as Mount Lyell. Mount Lyell was the dominant copper mining company of the West Coast from 1893 to 1994, and was based in Queenstown, Tasmania.
Regatta Point is the location of a port and rail terminus on Macquarie Harbour.
The North Mount Lyell disaster refers to a fire that broke out on 12 October 1912 at the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company operations on the West Coast of Tasmania, killing 42 miners. The mine had been taken over from the North Mount Lyell Company in 1903.
Crotty is a former gazetted townsite that was located in Western Tasmania, Australia. The township was located on the eastern lower slopes of Mount Jukes, below the West Coast Range, and on the southern bank of the King River. The locality had had a former name of King River
The North Mount Lyell Railway was built to operate between the North Mount Lyell mine in West Coast Tasmania and Pillinger in the Kelly Basin of Macquarie Harbour.
Mount Owen is a mountain directly east of the town of Queenstown on the West Coast Range in Western Tasmania, Australia.
The Queen River, part of the King River catchment, is a minor perennial river located in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia.
North Mount Lyell was the name of a mine, mining company, locality and former railway north of Gormanston on the southern slopes of Mount Lyell in the West Coast Range on the West Coast of Tasmania, and on to the ridge between Mount Lyell and Mount Owen.
Pillinger is an abandoned port and townsite in Kelly Basin, on the south eastern side of Macquarie Harbour on the West Coast of Tasmania.
The history of the Railways on the West Coast of Tasmania has fascinated enthusiasts from around the world, because of the combination of the harsh terrain in which the railways were created, and the unique nature of most of the lines.
Linda is the site of an old ghost town in the Linda Valley in the West Coast Range of Tasmania, Australia. It has also been known as Linda Valley.
Iron Blow was the site of the earliest major mining venture at Mount Lyell on the west coast of Tasmania, Australia in 1883.
Philosophers Ridge is the long spur that connects Mount Lyell and Mount Owen in the West Coast Range of Western Tasmania.
Russell Mervyn Murray, commonly referred to as R. M. Murray, was general manager of the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Co. Ltd, Queenstown, Tasmania for 22 years. Unusually for a mining man, his entire career of 44 years was spent at one location and for one company.
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