Mt Magnet, Western Australia

An old goldmining town of the Murchison Goldfields that now serves a scattered pastoral district.
Location: 569 km north east of Perth and 126 km east of Yalgoo on the Great Northern Highway.
Origin of name: the name is derived from that of a geographical feature, which was named by explorer Robert Austin in August 1854 because of the magnetic attraction of rocks there. The Aboriginal name of the hill is Warramboo.
Brief history: gold was discovered in the Mt. Magnet area in July 1891 by the prospectors George Woodley and Tom Sampey. A townsite was surveyed and later gazetted in 1895. The railway to Mount Magnet was completed in August 1897, but it was not opened until July 1898. The line closed in May 1978.
Natural features: Mount Magnet; The Granites
Heritage features: ruins of abandoned mining town of Lennonville (11 km north)