Norseman, Western Australia

Norseman is a small town in the state of Western Australia, in Australia.

The town is about 726 kilometres (451 miles) east of the city of Perth. It is an important place because it is the last major town in Western Australia before you cross the Nullarbor Plain to South Australia. It is the start of the Eyre Highway, which is a very long road across the country.

 History 
Norseman was started because of gold. In 1894, a man named Laurie Sinclair found a rich spot of gold. He named the place after his horse, Hardy Norseman, who found the gold by scraping his hoof on the ground. Gold mining became a very big business in Norseman for many years.

The Aboriginal name for the area is "Jimberlana".Western Australian Government Gazette, file 301/95, 22 May 1895, p.735.

At first, Norseman was not as important as the nearby town of Dundas. But Norseman soon grew stronger. From 1895 to 1901, the town opened a post office, banks, stores, a doctor, and a courthouse. Mail coaches from Cobb & Co started coming in 1899. Later, in 1935, a big company, Western Mining Corporation, put a lot of money into the town. This brought better things to Norseman, like paved roads, electricity, and a way to get water from the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme.

 Demographics and tourism 
Today, Norseman is still a mining town. The main thing that keeps the town running is gold mining.

Norseman is also a popular stop for travellers. People driving across Australia on the Eyre Highway often stop here for fuel and to rest. The town has shops, a place to stay, and a hospital.

Things to see there include:
The Big Horse: There is a statue of a horse to remember the horse, Hardy Norseman, that found the first gold.
Beacon Hill: A good place to go to see a wide view of the town and the dry land around it.