The outback is full of ghost towns—quiet places with rich gold history and stories buried deep in the red dirt. I grew up out here, and I’ve always felt a strong connection to these towns. That’s why I’m starting a new series diving into the ghost towns of Western Australia.
First up is a place that means a lot to me—Kanowna.
We’re actually mining near the ruins of the old Premier Pub, which makes this one extra special.
Kanowna is about 30 kilometres from Coolgardie, and while gold was officially discovered by colonisers in 1892, it’s important to recognise that Indigenous people lived in the Kulgardi region for thousands of years before that. The town was first known as “25 Mile”, and by 1894, it was officially gazetted.
Back then, the wider Kanowna area included Dunsville, Carbine, Jordy Hills—it was a proper goldfields hub.
In 1901, a man named Jack Bose—an entrepreneur from Coolgardie and cousin of Fred Bose—saw an opportunity to serve the miners. He’d made good money in the wagon team business and figured the next smart move was opening a pub. And he wasn’t wrong.
The Premier Mine brought electricity to the area, and Jack built the Premier Hotel—a bit flash for the bush, with ten rooms, a big cellar, and even a billiard room. His goal? Serve up cheaper beer, wine, and spirits to the thirsty gold diggers.
It’s funny—they say in the gold rush, it wasn’t the miners who got rich, it was the people selling shovels… and booze.
But when the Premier Mine shut down, it was a huge blow to Kanowna. Miners moved on. The town started to shrink. The pub took a hit.
In 1922, the Kelly family took over the Premier Hotel, and that’s when Gran Kelly—a bit of a legend around here—stepped in. I wasn’t born until 1995, but everyone who remembers her says she was incredible.
Gran made the Premier one of the first pubs in the area to serve cooked meals over the counter. But even more amazing? On Sundays, she made ice cream.
This was before refrigeration, mind you. Big sacks of ice packed in straw came all the way from Kalgoorlie. All Sunday morning was spent making it, and by the afternoon, all the kids from around the goldfields would come running in for a scoop of Gran’s ice cream. It was 45°C, no aircon—can you imagine how exciting that must’ve been?
Eventually, the gold ran out. Then came the war. Miners went overseas, and Kanowna slowly became a ghost town.
Today, there’s nothing left but scattered bricks, some old rubbish piles, and the haunting ruins of the pub. The rest is just bare bushland. But standing there now, mining just nearby, you can still feel something in the air—a sense of what once was.
