Yerilla 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 in the Goldfields-Esperance region in Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

. It is found between Kalgoorlie

Kalgoorlie, Western Australia

Kalgoorlie, known as Kalgoorlie-Boulder, is a town in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, and is located east-northeast of state capital Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway...

 and Laverton.

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 January 1895 when the Mount Catherine reef was discovered. The reef is loctaed about 6 km south of the town and was particularly rich in alluvial gold. Another outcrop, the Queen of the Earth was discovered by the prospector

Prospector

Prospector may mean:*Prospecting, exploring an area for natural resources such as minerals, oil, flora or fauna*Prospector , a unified catalog for Colorado and Wyoming...

s MacGregor, McAuliffe and party further from town. This sparked a gold rush to the field and by 1896 the local miners had joinded together and formed a progress association and requested that a townsite be declared. The town was gazetted in November 1896.

police station

Police station

A police station or station house is a building which serves to accommodate police officers and other members of staff. These buildings often contain offices and accommodation for personnel and vehicles, along with locker rooms, temporary holding cells and interview/interrogation rooms.- Facilities...

 situated in McKinery Street commenced operations in July 1897 with Constable L. McDonald initially manning the station.

A Post Office and four hotels were open in town in 1898 the Commercial Hotel, the Smith Hotel (later named the Never Never Hotel), the Royal Hotel and the Yerilla Hotel.

A coach service from Coolgardie

Coolgardie, Western Australia

Coolgardie is a small town in the Australian state of Western Australia, east of the state capital, Perth. It has a population of approximately 800 people....

 via Menzies

Menzies, Western Australia

Menzies is a town located in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, east-northeast of the state capital, Perth, and north-northwest of the city of Kalgoorlie...

 and Yerilla to Pennyweight Point operated weekly in 1898.

A battery

Stamp mill

A stamp mill is a type of mill machine that crushes material by pounding rather than grinding, either for further processing or for extraction of metallic ores. Breaking material down is a type of unit operation....

 was erected in the area by working leasholders some time after 1895 but was poorly patronised so by 1900 it was dismantled and taken to Niagara

Niagara, Western Australia

Niagara is an abandoned town located in the Goldfields-Esperance region in Western Australia. It is found between Kalgoorlie and Leonora.In 1895 two prospectors named Northmore and Doolittle discovered gold in the area, some sources claim that John Alway was the first o peg the area earlier the...

.