Shire of Coolgardie
# Shire of Coolgardie

The Shire of Coolgardie is a local government area in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, lying roughly west and south of the city of Kalgoorlie. The Shire covers an area of 30,400 square kilometres (11,738 sq mi), and its seat of government is the town of Coolgardie, although the twin towns of Kambalda East and Kambalda West contain two-thirds of the Shire's population.

## History

The Shire of Coolgardie originated as the Coolgardie Road District, which was established on 7 August 1896, consisting of the rural areas surrounding the town of Coolgardie, which had already been incorporated as the Municipality of Coolgardie in 1894. As the gold rush waned in the area, the municipality merged into the road district on 20 May 1921.

It was declared a shire with effect from 1 July 1961 following the passage of the Local Government Act 1960, which reformed all remaining road districts into shires.

## Wards

In 2007, the ward system was abolished. Prior to this, the Shire had eight councillors and four wards:

* Kambalda West (three councillors)
* Kambalda (two councillors)
* Coolgardie (two councillors)
* Country (one councillor)

## Towns and localities

The towns and localities of the Shire of Coolgardie with population and size figures based on the most recent Australian census:

| Suburb | Population | Area |
| - | - | - |
| Boorabbin | 48 (SAL 2021) | 2,274.4 $km^2$ (878.2 sq mi) |
| Bullabulling | 0 (SAL 2021) | 1,216.9 $km^2$ (469.8 sq mi) |
| Coolgardie | 773 (SAL 2021) | 125 $km^2$ (48 sq mi) |
| Higginsville | 19 (SAL 2021) | 1,025.4 $km^2$ (395.9 sq mi) |
| Kambalda East | 802 (SAL 2021) | 101.8 $km^2$ (39.3 sq mi) |
| Kambalda West | 1,666 (SAL 2021) | 124.1 $km^2$ (47.9 sq mi) |
| Karramindie | 33 (SAL 2021) | 737.7 $km^2$ (284.8 sq mi) |
| Londonderry | 0 (SAL 2016) | 1,083.8 $km^2$ (418.5 sq mi) |
| Mount Burges | 116 (SAL 2021) | 3,266.7 $km^2$ (1,261.3 sq mi) |
| Victoria Rock | 0 (SAL 2016) | 9,434.3 $km^2$ (3,642.6 sq mi) |
| Wallaroo | 0 (SAL 2016) | 4,996.7 $km^2$ (1,929.2 sq mi) |
| Widgiemooltha | 28 (SAL 2021) | 5,942.9 $km^2$ (2,294.6 sq mi) |

## Ghost towns

Ghost towns in the Shire of Coolgardie:

* Bonnie Vale
* Burbanks (also Burbanks Gold Mine)
* Dunnsville
* Kintore
* Kunanalling
* Kundana
* Kurrawang
* Mungari
* Spargoville

## Heritage-listed places

As of 2023, 161 places are heritage-listed in the Shire of Coolgardie, of which 27 are on the State Register of Heritage Places.

