Southern Cross

Town located in the Goldfields of Western Australia, 369 km/229 mi east of Perth; population (1996) 1,100. Industries include cereal crops, sheep, and gold mining. It developed as a boom town following the discovery of gold in the area in 1887.

The town was named after the constellation Crux. As gold was discovered further east, at Coolgardie and Kalgoorie in 1892, Southern Cross declined as a mining town, although the construction of the railway to Kalgoorie in 1894 made it an important railway centre. Wheat farming also became an important industry in the Southern Cross district after 1900.