Wittenoom - now and then

Wittenoom - a real ghost town!!

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June 13th 2005
I have never seen a real ghost town. Until 1966 Wittenoom was a thriving town with the big asbestos mine in the nearby Wittenoom gorge. Then they discovered the danger of cancer from asbestos and they closed the mine. Most of the people left anyway as there were no jobs anymore and the WA government were determined to extinguish the town, maybe to prevent future law suits (even though several rese ... read more

Oceania » Australia » Western Australia

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Aboriginal settlers arrived on the continent from Southeast Asia about 40,000 years before the first Europeans began exploration in the 17th century. No formal territorial claims were made until 1770, when Capt. James COOK took possession in the name... ... read more