Lottah is a town in north east Tasmania. Nowadays it is virtually just a couple of houses at a cross roads. In the 2016 census, the population was 13.
Originally it was known as Blue Tier Junction in the late 1870’s. The town was developed around a tin mine which was discovered in 1875. At the peak of the Anchor tin mine operation, there were several hundred people living around Lottah. The town included a school, two hotels, two churches, a bakery and a football club. Many residents were part of a Chinese community. The Anchor Mine closed in 1950.
The ABC put together a fantastic report about the town including lots of images.
How does Lottah relate to my family?
My great grandmother Nellie Somers/Summers/Clark(e) was born at Georges Bay in 1889 – now called St Helens. Her father, Thomas Somers, was supposedly a miner in the Gould Country area which includes Lottah.
But as well as the ancestral link, my father often went to St Helens on holidays as a child. He then took my brother and I there as well. We would often go bush bashing through the scrub looking for stampers of mines and water races. This was usually up in the Gould Country/Blue Tier area.
