Our Shire • Our Story

The History
of Cue

Gold, ambition and extraordinary characters transformed a remote part of the Murchison into one of Western Australia's great goldfields towns.

From gold to a town

The beginnings of the Queen of the Murchison

Cue's modern history is inseparable from gold. In the early 1890s an Aboriginal prospector known as Governor found a large gold nugget at Cuddingwarra, west of the present townsite.

The discovery encouraged further prospecting in the district. On New Year's Day 1892, Michael Fitzgerald and his party found gold at what became known as the Kintore Blow, near today's Austin Street. The discovery set in motion the rapid growth of the settlement that would become Cue.

The story unfolds

From gold find to goldfields centre

Early 1890s

Gold at Cuddingwarra

An Aboriginal prospector known as Governor found a ten-ounce nugget at Cuddingwarra, around nine miles west of what would become Cue.

1892

The Kintore Blow

Michael Fitzgerald's party discovered gold at the Kintore Blow on New Year's Day. The site was close to what is now Austin Street and reportedly produced 260 ounces of gold during its first week.

1892

The name Cue

Fitzgerald's partner, Tom Cue, travelled approximately 80 kilometres to Nannine to register the claim. His role in registering the discovery is generally credited as the reason the developing town took his name.

1893

Cue becomes a town

Growth was rapid. Within a short period hundreds of hopeful prospectors had arrived and a settlement formed. Cue was officially established as a town in 1893 and became an important centre of the Murchison Goldfields.

Historic Cue Western Australia
A town transformed

The rush was on

Word of the discoveries travelled quickly. Prospectors, merchants and workers arrived in the district and the early settlement rapidly developed into a substantial goldfields town.

At its height Cue was the centre of the Murchison Goldfields, with hotels, businesses, public buildings and services built to support a population many times larger than the town has today.

Just south of Cue
Day Dawn &
Great Fingall

Another major gold discovery created the settlement of Day Dawn only a few kilometres south-west of Cue. The Great Fingall mine would become one of the most significant mines of the district.

Gold on a grand scale

The rise of Great Fingall

Gold discoveries at Day Dawn led to the development of the Great Fingall mine, which became a major Western Australian gold producer.

The mine closed in 1918, but one of the district's most remarkable reminders of that era remains — the substantial Great Fingall mine office overlooking the former workings.

Discover Day Dawn  →
The story remains visible

History you can still walk through

Unlike many former gold rush settlements, much of Cue's built heritage survives. Substantial stone and iron buildings constructed during the boom years still shape the town's streetscape.

The former Gentlemen's Club now serves as the Shire Office, while the Government Buildings, courthouse precinct and other landmarks continue to tell the story of the town's rapid development.

See Cue as it was

Historical Photograph Collection

Cue's collection of photographs from the late 1800s and early 1900s provides a remarkable window into the people, buildings and everyday life of the early goldfields town.

View the Collection  →
Preserving our town

Proud achievements

2004
WA Tidy Towns Award for Cultural Heritage
2006
Town classified by the National Trust
2007
WA Tidiest Town and National Litter Prevention Award