Kathleen is an abandoned

Ghost town

A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...

 town located between Leinster

Leinster, Western Australia

Leinster is a town in the northern goldfields area of Western Australia. The town is located 4 km east of the Goldfields Highway, in the Shire of Leonora Local Government Area, northeast of the state capital, Perth...

 and Wiluna

Wiluna, Western Australia

Wiluna is a complex town in the Mid West region of Western Australia. It is situated on the edge of the Western Desert at the gateway to the Canning Stock Route and Gunbarrel Highway. It is the service centre of the local area for the local Aboriginal people, the pastoral industry, mining, and...

 along the Goldfields Highway

Goldfields Highway

Goldfields Highway is a generally northwest-southeast highway in central Western Australia which links the Great Northern Highway at Meekatharra with Coolgardie-Esperance Highway south of Kalgoorlie...

 in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia.

Gold

Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...

was discovered in the area in 1897 and was originally referred to as Kathleen Valley by the locals since gold had been found in the valley area near the town. The townsite was eventually gazetted as in 1900, once the valley part of the name was dropped.

A shop and butchers was opened in 1901 and by 1902 the town supported two hotels. One of the main mines in town was the Yellow Aster mine.