Museum of the Goldfields: The best museum in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia?

The Museum of the Goldfields does a good job teaching about gold and mining heritage. It’s the best museum in Kalgoorlie, but not worth a several hour detour.

There are other places to learn about gold mining in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, but the Museum of the Goldfields has several strengths that make it the best museum in the WA outback city. First of all, it’s central and in easy walking distance from most Kalgoorlie accommodation – you don’t need a Kalgoorlie taxi to get there. Secondly, entry is free (although donations are welcome).

Entrance to the Museum of the Goldfields, Kalgoorlie — The entrance to the Museum of the Goldfields in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia: Pretty impressive. Photo by David Whitley/ Australia Travel Questions.

Most importantly, the Museum of the Goldfields consistently opens your eyes to something you didn’t know. Exhibits are fairly well presented too – there’s plenty of reading off signs, but there’s frequently something a little more inventive to grab the attention.

What can I see at the Museum of the Goldfields?

The best museum in Kalgoorlie tells of Western Australia’s 1890s gold boom. And it’s fair to say that boom was boozy. There were 93 hotels in Kalgoorlie-Boulder during its heyday – that’s one pub for every 320 people.

Many of them are still operating, although some have been knocked down and others repurposed.

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Museum of the Goldfields: Kalgoorlie race riots

One of these hotels was where the race riots of 1934 started, too. Long-standing resentment over “non-Britishers” accepting lower wages and worse conditions boiled over when miner and local sporting star George Edward Jordan died. After being twice ejected from the Home From Home Hotel, he came back to remonstrate with Italian barman Claudio Mattaboni. Mattaboni turfed Jordan out again, but he fell and fractured his skull on the kerb. Two died and several homes and businesses were wrecked in the next few days.

Museum of the Goldfields: Gold display

The Museum of the Goldfields also has around $4 million dollars of gold on display in its vault. Here, it explains how the gold deposits were formed about 2.65 billion years ago during episodes of collision in the earth’s crust. It also tries to explain why gold has always been such a prized metal. It was probably the first metal worked by humans, and has been a symbol of beauty, wealth and power for thousands of years.

This is partly because of colour, but partly because gold has several valuable properties. It’s soft, malleable and ductile. A single ounce can be beaten into a three square metre leaf, or an 80km-long wire. It’s twice as heavy as lead, and an excellent conductor of heat and electricity.

More Gold mining in Kalgoorlie

But do we prize it too much? Another part of the display goes into the environmental cost – and for a single wedding ring, over 20 tonnes of rock will generally need to be removed. There’s more waste material per gram of metal than with any other material mined. You’ll see how this scales up at Kalgoorlie’s Superpit.

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This sort of thought-provoking information makes the Museum of the Goldfields worth visiting, though. The museum does more than it has to, and is an engaging way to pass an hour or two if you’re in Kalgoorlie. It’s not worth making the 6h30m drive from Perth to Kalgoorlie to see, however. Should you prefer a taking a domestic flight across a vast area of Western Australia, the Perth to Kalgoorlie flight time is 90 minutes.

Where should I stay in Kalgoorlie?

Specialist Australian accommodation website Wotif offers Kalgoorlie accommodation for from $133 a night. Check out the deals page to search for the best value stay.

However, you should consider these options first.

For central location and a pool: Plaza Hotel.
For best quality: Quest Yelverton apartments.
For proximity to the railway station: Quality Inn Railway Motel.
For pool, free parking and good value: Hospitality Inn (part of the Best Western group).