Want to know more about the brothels which made Kalgoorlie famous for being a hub of prostitution? With a town full of cash-rich, sex starved men women flocked to Kalgoorlie to earn a very decent living. In this guide, we take a look at the history of prostitution in Kalgoorlie and find out what has happened to the famous brothels of this Western Australia town.
We also review the last two brothels left operating within the infamous red-light district of Hay Street. Following years of significant discoveries of gold in Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania, Western Australia was only responsible for small finds of the precious metal until However, sizeable finds were located by geologist, Edward Hardman in starting a gold rush in WA.
In , a find near Coolgardie sparked the largest gold rush in West Australia history and resulting in a mass migration of people to the area. The following year saw a further discovery of gold in a town called Hannan which later became known as Kalgoorlie. Within three days of this discovery by the prospector, Patrick Hannan, a further men were chancing their luck in Kalgoorlie. Kalgoorlie was built on Gold, Girls and Grog after the gold rush of Image via Flickr.
The potential rewards of striking a find were so tempting that men from across the country flocked to the region, increasing the population of Western Australia from 46, people in to , by the year In Kalgoorlie, the one-horse town quickly grew to a population of 2, people by 1, men and women.
Whilst the majority of this increase is due to the number of panhandlers, a significant proportion is also reported to be prostitutes. In fact, whilst the number of men doubled by to 3,, the female population increased almost six-fold to 2, in less than five years. To try and establish some form of order, the community de-marked one street in the town as a designated area for prostitution and the Hay Street red-light area was born. Kalgoorlie , still a remote town but with few reminders of its wild west past.
