The People of Western Australia’s Ghost Towns project team are pleased to announce the launch of Phase 5 on 7 December 2025. Phase 5 will add 19 new communities to those already in progress.
Click on the name of the town to find out what we know about it – so far. Our research continues and we will be keeping all our content up to date with our latest discoveries!
Do you know anything about any of these communities? Do you have pictures, stories, documents, records of any type? Please let us know via the comments panel.
The total number of records captured during the month of November, 2025 was 11,984 – that’s our best month since the project started. Congratulations to the project team who are working so hard to make this project great!!
The list of captured records now includes ten new communities for which we have found people who are now part of the permanent dataset. These communities are Austin plus The Island Lake Austin, Balkuling, Bila Railway Siding, Haig, Harris, Jindong, Lennox, Old Onslow, and Yaloginda.
As you can see from the list below, some of the record numbers are very low. This happens when we are researching one community and come across records for another community that is on our list. We capture the strays as we go along because we don’t want to miss anything!!
Once our website and search engine is fully operational you will be able to access some of these records. Here are the latest figures followed by a simple line graph showing the growth in total numbers:
First of all, an apology. Due to a number of circumstances, we did not publish our statistical report as at 30 Sep 2025. So this report covers our progress for the two months since 31 August 2025.
As previously announced during the month of October, we reach the major milestone of 100,000 records captured by our team. Congratulations to all project team members for a magnificent effort.
The total records captured up to 31 October 2025 is 103,384. During the past two months, about 30 communities have been added to the list of those communities who have any records captured. These new communities are highlighted in the list below.
As at 31 Oct 2025, our Master List shows we have identified 617 ghost towns, plus 833 alternative names relating to 396 of the 617 towns. Our task means that we research and record people associated with all 1,450 of those town names.
Our project team are working hard to capture as many records as possible of the people in WA’s ghost communities. Once our website and search engine is fully operational you will be able to access some of these records. Here are the latest figures followed by a simple line graph showing the growth in total numbers:
Recorded as Bandee in error. This will be corrected to Baandee in the future. ↩︎
More recent research requires a re-examination of these records. They will be updated once the differentiation between the Lazarettes at Cossack and Derby is fully understood. ↩︎
These records relate to Ferguson Mill school/s. Unable to determine which location. ↩︎
Recorded as North Bandee in error. This will be corrected to North Baandee in the future. ↩︎
Every town or district has its quirks, and often the name carries a story of its own. In the case of Dattening—sometimes mistakenly called Taylor’s Well—the history lingers in the words people still use. Here’s how that tangle came to be, shared by a correspondent of the time: 1
Most readers are wondering where “Dattening” is, writes a correspondent. Well it is erroneously known as “Taylor’s Well.”
There’s such a tangle here that a word of explanation would not be out of place. Look on the map 2; the place is named “Dattening,” and Dattening is the real name.
How it came to be called “Taylor’s Well” is thus. Years ago, old Norry Taylor dug a well there for use when travelling stock, and it was a real tip top supply of fresh water, and in those days, before much clearing was done, water was not too plentiful so the early pioneers used to cart their supply of “Adam’s Ale” from the well, and as they went to “Ole Norry Taylor’s Well” to get it, gradually became known as Taylor’s Well.
However, the post office and the telephone exchange are known as “Dattening,” it behoves you to get used to calling it “Dattening.”
Dattening, Western Australia [cartographic material] / prepared under the direction of the Surveyor General, Department of Lands and Surveys, Western Australia. Retrieved August 27, 2025, from https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/catalog/5786516↩︎
The total records captured up to 31 July 2025 is 83,781. During the past month, the communities of Argyle (and Argyle Police Station), Boogardie, Craiggiemore, Derdebin, Howatharra, Kwelkan, Lancefield, Merilup, Noman’s Lake, Shay Gap, Stratherne, Sunday Island Mission, Tardun, Trafalgar, Ullaring, White Well, Wittenoom and Yarri have found their way into our captured list.
Our project team are working hard to capture as many records as possible of the people in WA’s ghost communities. Once our website and search engine is fully operational you will be able to access some of these records. Here are the latest figures followed by a simple line graph showing the growth in total numbers:
Quick Tip: to quickly see if your favourite ghost town is already in this list, press CTRL+f [find].
On Friday 29 August, 2025, we will move into Phase 4 of our project and that adds 16 new communities to the list of communities on which we are already working. The biggest community in this phase is Kanowna. If you have any information about these communities, or any of the communities on our master list, please contact us.
Image from our project partner Eastern Goldfields Historical Society
The new 16 in alphabetical order
4 Mile (Leonora)
Bootenal (aka Boolungu, Bootanoo, Bootanu and the Bootenal Railway Siding)
Buldania
Coonara (aka the Coonara Railway Siding)
Gabanintha
Gums (aka The Gums)
Hawks Nest (aka Hawk’s Nest, Hawkes Nest and the Hawkes Nest Gold Mine)
Jibberding
Jitarning (aka Geetaring)
Kanowna (aka White Feather and Cement Workings)
Kodj Kodjin (aka North Baandee)
Londonderry (aka Golden Hole Mine)
Pilbarra (aka Pilbarra Creek, Pilbarra Pool, Yandeyarra Hotel and Yule River, but NOT Pilbara)
Pingarning
Plavins (aka Plavins Timber Mill and Plavins Railway Siding)
Woolgar (aka Yundaga, Yundagga, Yunndaga and Yunndega)
Previous phases have covered the following communities:
I have noticed something today while researching the ghost community of Woop Woop. The name “Woop Woop” has often been used as a humorous or derogatory adjective.
If you have been following along with our project, you will already know that Woop Woop is one of the communities included in Phase 2. Woop Woop was a timber mill situated about 70Km south of Collie, and just a couple of Kms from the little town of Wilga, in the Shire of Boyup Brook. It only last for three years (1925-1928) but in that time it had six huts for single men, two houses, a boarding house, an office, and the Mill itself.
So today I have been working through a publication call The Guardian that has been published in Perth since 1937. While doing this I came across these “references” to Woop Woop – not to the place, but in a completely different context.
On 27 November, 1942, a random report about a scientific discovery related to the size of the solar system (and the universe) was concluded with a pretty obscure reference to Adolf Hitler as the bantamweight champion of Woop-Woop. 1
In February 1945, in a report decrying poor quality journalism in relation to reports on the distribution of preferences in Victoria Park. Claiming that any junior reporter would have done a better job than the senior reporters tasked with informing the public. The report concludes with the statement “A Woop Woop editorial staff would have made a better job of a simple duty to the public”. 2
Elections once again figure in a report from January 1947, where everyone from the Federal Government all the way down to “the Woop Woop Shire Council” is looking for a handout. 3
These stories may have been meant to be humorous, but between 1937 and 1954, seven times the name “Woop Woop” was used in a way that, if I had been a local resident, would have seen me writing a letter to the editor to demand an apology. And, perhaps, in this litigious age, seeking compensation.
A LAST NOTE: The seven articles are all in The Guardian. There are probably hundreds in the 365 other Western Australian newspapers currently digitised on Trove. Have a look for yourself and see what you can find.
The total records captured up to 31 July 2025 is 78,987. During the past month, the communities of Black Range, Burbridge, Cork Tree Flat, Culham, Dattening, Garden Gully, Gum Creek, Hawk’s Nest, Kintore, Kudardup, Linden, Paynesville, Red Lake School, Spargoville, Warriedar, Wyening, and Zanthus have found their way into our captured list.
Our project team are working hard to capture as many records as possible of the people in WA’s ghost communities. Once our website and search engine is fully operational you will be able to access some of these records. Here are the latest figures followed by a simple line graph showing the growth in total numbers:
Quick Tip: to quickly see if your favourite ghost town is already in this list, press CTRL+f [find].
The total records captured up to 30 June 2025 is 74,222. During the past month, the communities of Barton, Bummers Creek, Cuddingwarra, Davyhurst, East Kirup Timber Mill, Fly Flat, Galena Bridge, Kathleen, Kathleen Valley, Mount Ida, Mulgabbie, Naretha Railway Siding, Niagara North, Pingin, Pinjin, Sandstone, Sir Samuel, Surprise South, Webb’s Patch, and Yundamindera have found their way into our captured list.
Our project team are working hard to capture as many records as possible of the people in WA’s ghost communities. Once our website and search engine is fully operational you will be able to access some of these records. But for now, here are the latest figures along with a graph showing the growth in total numbers:
Quick Tip: to quickly see if your favourite ghost town is already in this list, press CTRL+f [find].
Our project team are working hard to capture as many records as possible of the people in WA’s ghost communities. Once our website and search engine is fully operational you will be able to access some of these records. But for now, here are the latest figures along with a graph showing the growth in total numbers:
Quick Tip: to quickly see if your favourite ghost town is already in this list, press CTRL+f [find].
People of Western Australia's Ghost Towns 