(C) Don Copley

YELLOWDINE

HEMA Map reference 75/B9

31° 17' 50" S 119° 39' 09" E

Statistics

Caravan Parks

Roadhouse             08 9024 2001

Services

Description

Originally a railway siding on the Southern Cross to Coolgardie railway that opened in 1896. As the closest railway link it became a good place to start developing so a town site was declared at the siding.

The first name selected for this site was Duladgin and Yellowdine was selected as the name of the nearest mine site. The mine was in fact named Mount Palmer so the siding was gazetted as Yellowdine in 1935.

It is thought the name originates from the Aboriginal word ‘Yelladine’ but the meaning has been lost.

There were great hopes raised at one time when it was claimed that crude oil had been discovered near a lake north of Yellowdine but when the samples reached the Government laboratories they were found to contain kerosene, Vaseline and soap – it had just been a hoax.
 

The town dates back to 1934 when gold was discovered to the south at Mount Palmer. The Mt. Palmer mine was operated by the deBernales group who formed a company known as Yellowdine Gold Development Ltd. The mine operated for 10 years from 1934 to 1944. At its peak about 130 men were employed at the mine and a town site was gazetted. Eventually the mine closed down and like many other small goldfields towns, Mt. Palmer faded into obscurity.