Cue, Western Australia

Cue is a small town in the Mid West region of Western Australia, located 650 km north east of Perth. At the 2006 census, Cue had a population of 328.^[1] It is also known as the Queen of the Murchison. Cue is administered through the Cue Shire Council, which has its chambers in the historic Gentlemans Club Building. A former Shire President was Herbert Hoover who later became the President of the United States. The current president is Kevin Anthony. The Cue Parliament is held twice yearly. Gold was discovered in 1892 though there is uncertainty as to who found first found gold, Michael Fitzgerald and Edward Heffernan collected 260oz after being given a nugget by an Aboriginal known as Governor. Tom Cue travelled to Nannine, Western Australia to register their claim, the townsite was gazetted in 1893 and named after Tom Cue. The towns first water supply was a well in the centre of the main street after an outbreak of Typhoid fever, the well was capped with a rotunda built over top. The water supply was replaced by another well dug near Lake Nallan and carted 20km south to the townsite. The town of Day Dawn 8km south was established within a year, by 1900 a Hospital and cemetery were established between the two towns and they had three Newspapers operating. The rivalry between the town sites fueled a diverse sporting culture in the area. Cycling and Horse racing groups held regularly events attracting competitors from as far away as Perth and Kalgoorlie. Cue was the terminus for Northern Railway in 1898 until the route was extended to Meekatharra almost 10 years later, and also junction for the branch line to Big Bell By around 1900 Cue was the centre of the Murchison goldfields and boasted a population of around 10,000. As WWI drew men from the goldfields into the Australian Army the town site of Day Dawn was abandoned. After the War many of the mines didn't reopen this started the decline of Cue as a major population centre. Then as the depression reduced the price of Gold by 1933 the population of Cue had reduced to less than 500. Today the current population is around 300, the major employment is the Day Dawn mine with 70 people. The Shire of Cue has 10 employees and the rest are self employed as prospectors or supplying the tourist and sheep grazing industries.

References

• Along the Cue railway. Inspection of line with suggested improvements, visit to Georgina Siding. West Australian, 11 June 1898, p.5

External links

• Cue accessed 17th Aug 2006
• Cue Heritage trail info accessed 11th Nov 2006
• Plamer, Alex (2000). Agnew. Hesperian Press. ISBN 0-85905-267-2. 

Coordinates: 27°25′S, 117°54′E