Zeehan is a mining town on the west coast of Tasmania. The two main indigenous groups were Peerapper and Tommeginne and they lived mainly on the coastal areas.
Abel Tasman explored the west coast of Tasmania and in 1798/1799, George Bass and Matthew Flinders circumnavigated the state and named two of the mountains after Tasman’s ships – Zeehan and Heemskirk.
Tin was found at Mt Bischoff in 1871 then silver and lead in 1882 near Zeehan. Prior to World War One there were 159 companies operating and the town’s stock exchange had 60 members. There were also 20 hotels in the main street of Zeehan ready for the weary miners.
At one stage, Zeehan was the third largest town in Tasmania after Hobart and Launceston. It was also known as Silver City. The Gaiety Theatre could hold 1000 people. The population began declining after World War One and by 1921 there were no working mines in the town.
The population around 1910 was 10,000 and in 2011 the census records 728 people in Zeehan.
Many men who lived on the west coast would mine in various towns throughout their life. Many Zeehanites worked at Mt Lyell in Queenstown/Gormanston during the disaster in 1912.
A committee to form the Zeehan School of Mines and Metallurgy was begun in January 1892. The building was completed in 1903 and is now known as the West Coast Heritage Centre.
How does this town come into my family history?
Whenever our family went on holidays to the west coast, we would spend time at the West Coast Pioneer Museum as the Heritage Centre was known back in the 1960’s 1970’s. We loved checking out the different minerals on display but also going outside to look at the mining setup.
Dad loved bushwalking in the area, especially following old train and tram lines which were used to get the minerals and timber to their destinations. One of the first mountains I climbed was Mt Bischoff.
In recent years I have visited the museum to find out more about the mining disasters in the area particularly the Mt Lyell disaster in 1912.
