The Big Bell Hotel, Western Australia

Mr C W Melrose was the winner tender to build the hotel at price of 17565 pounds. The brick were made at an old kiln between Cue and Day Dawn by Mr R Hethsketh who took out the contact to supply 300,000 bricks.
Big Bell is a ghost town in Western Australia located approximately 30 kilometres south west of the town of Cue. The town was established in 1936, and was home to the worker at the Big Bell Gold Mine.
Gold was discovered in the area in 1904 by Harry Paton and a mine was quickly established. Ownership of the mine has changed a number of times through the years. Premier Gold Mining Company announced plans to develop the Big Bell Mine in 1935.
A township was established in 1936 close to the mine to provide accommodation for the mine workers. 36 blocks were sold in April 1936 and another 80 were sold in June. A population of about 850 soon inhabited the townsite and services included a number of shops, a post office and a hospital.
It is a former railway branch terminus in Western Australia's Murchison Region. The first train arrived in Big Bell on 6 January 1937, however the line was not officially opened until 12 August that year. Services ceased from September 1944, but were revived the following year when the war in Europe was winding down and the gold mine reopened. The line finally closed on 31 December 1955. Not much of the buildings remain, but the roads stay visible in their original position as dirt tracks. It is very visible from an aerial view.