Parkeston, Western Australia


Parkeston is a suburb of the city of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, located 3 km east of the city centre. At the 2016 census, it had a population of 60 people, down from 69 in 2006.

Railway

This Australian townsite was gazetted in 1904 and is located on the western end of the Trans-Australian Railway. From 1917, the town was the interchange between the narrow gauge railway from Perth and the standard gauge railway to Port Pirie. This break of gauge was eliminated in 1970. The elevation is 468m.

Military history

During World War II, Parkeston was the location of a prisoner of war transit and detention camp. It was 2 km north-east of Kalgoorlie and today is a suburb of Kalgoorlie itself. It operated between June 1940 and March 1947, was used as a transit camp for prisoners transiting across the country by rail, having a capacity of 20 internees in small cells.