//
Few sights in the Goldfieds typify the unbridled ambition of the Goldrush era more than Niagara Dam. Prospectors drawn to the desert by their thirst for gold were all too often defeated by a thirst for water. The importance of a permanent water source, not to quench the rapidly growing population's thirst as much as the equally demanding steam trains, was great enough to drive an engineering feat that, looking at it today, is difficult to believe was accomplished in 1897. The 18m-high dam builds on a natural rock ridge that forms a natural reservoir, capped with the 173m-long concrete wall. Construction materials had to be transported overland from Coolgardie by Afghan camel trains. This arduous trek was shortened later when the rail line extended to Menzies. A namesake town was established soon after construction began, intended to service the planned Leonora–Coolgardie rail line and nearby goldmines with water from the dam, but by the time of completion the gold had run out and town was in abrupt decline. After its completion in May 1897, the discovery of abundant underground water at Kookynie made Niagara Dam all but irrelevant. With the decline of Niagara township and a less impressive than expected capacity, the dam ultimately was never utilised and it quickly faded to a historical oddity. Today it's a popular camping spot and welcome chance to get wet in a region where salt lakes predominate. Though rain is infrequent here, the dam fills quickly and is always full enough to go for a swim. There are two short hiking trails around the dam and along the break away area. The site of the Niagara township is about 3 km eastwards from the dam turnoff. A sign marks the spot where the short lived community once stood with four pubs on each corner of the crossroads of the only two streets in town. A wander across the rubbly ground will reveal lines of mud bricks, bottle fragments and other interesting detritus that, with a bit of imagination, show the lives of people.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
The site of the town's previous and current water supply. There is not much to see up there but it's a good overview of the town when looking down.
Headstones spread over a wide area document the harshness of life in early days of the frontier township. Most of the graves here are from 1900 to 1910 when accidents, illness, alcoholism and Typhoid epidemics ended numerous hard lived lives. The names and dates on some headstones have been weathered unreadable by the passing of time but a dozen ornately cut tin headstones, unique to the area, have endured as defiant monuments to the ingenuity of people forced to make do with little, even in death.
No one is certain when the oven was built, only that a succession of owners kept it in use until the 1940s. The tin shed bakehouse and accompanying store are long gone, leaving only a disintegrating block of bricks hung with a heavy iron door that must have seen a lot of loaves come out of it over the years.
Menzies Hotel
The last original pub left standing. It was renamed in 1990 but operated as the Railway Hotel since at least 1896. The present building is the hotel's second iteration – built after the original wood and corrugated iron structure burnt down in 1902. It was known for having the cheapest beer in town – a reputation it still holds today due only to a lack of competition.
The first hotel in town and the only one to have never caught fire. Now a private residence.
The original post office on this site was little more than a wood framed tent. A more substantial structure was built in 1896 on Brown Street, designed by legendary public works architect George Temple-Poole. An extension was made in 1903 out to Shenton Street to provide enough room for the 26 staff. The town's decline led to its closure in 1952, when it became a private residence. The owners demolished the original Brown Street section, leaving the part you see today.