Southern Cross, Western Australia

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Southern Cross townsite.
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Southern Cross townsite.

Southern Cross (31°13′S 119°19′E) is a town in Western Australia, roughly 350 kilometres east of Perth on the Great Eastern Highway. It was founded by gold prospectors during the late 1880s, and gazetted in 1890. It is the major town and administrative centre of the Shire of Yilgarn.

The town of Southern Cross is one of the many towns which run along the Mundaring to Kalgoorlie Goldfields Water Supply Scheme engineered by C. Y. O'Connor. This pipeline — perhaps the world's longest water main — carries water 330 miles (530 km).

A succession of gold rushes in the Yilgarn region near Southern Cross in 1887, at Coolgardie in 1892, and at Kalgoorlie in 1893 caused a population explosion in the barren and dry desert centre of Western Australia.

It is named after the Southern Cross constellation, and the town's most significant streets are named after stars.

Southern Cross also serves as a stop on the Prospector and Indian Pacific train services.

[edit] See also


Preceding station
(inbound)
Transwa Trains network Following station
(outbound)
Moorine Rock   Prospector   Bonnie Vale