Australia So Much to See
Broken Hill, New South Wales - history, mining and art
Heritage buildings
In the 19th and early 20th century Broken Hill was home to a community of Afghans. Afghans worked as camel drivers in parts of outback
Australia, and they made a significant contribution to economic growth when transport options were limited. The camel drivers formed
the first sizeable Muslim communities in Australia, and in Broken Hill they left their mark in the form of the first mosque in New
South Wales (1891), however it was not the first mosque in Australia #.
Broken Hill's Afghan Mosque is located
in Williams Street and is recognised as Australia's first mosque #. It was built in 1891 by a small group of Muslim camel drivers
from Afghanistan and India on the site of a former camel camp. It appears that the site was used for worship from 1887. Importation
of camels had commenced in 1840 and the first Afghan camel driver, Dost Mahomet, accompanied Burke and Wills in 1860. The Broken
Hill Mosque has historical significance as the first mosque built in New South Wales and the only surviving mosque built by cameleers
in Australia #, however this statement also appears to be not entirely correct.
There were two Afghan camps in Broken Hill, west and north of the town, and each had their own mosque. It is the main north camp mosque which survives today as the Broken Hill Mosque (above right).
Tours of the Mosque can be taken between 2 pm and 4 pm on Sundays when the Caretaker is in attendance, or by arrangement at other times. Gold coin fee.
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# The first mosque built in Australia was built according to varying sources in 1861 with another date being given as in 1882,
at Marree, South Australia, and a replica constructed in 2003 now stands at the site of the original mosque.
# The Great Mosque of
Adelaide was built in 1888-89 by the descendants of the Afghan cameleers. The Adelaide Mosque is the oldest surviving mosque in Australia,
and the first to be built in an Australian city. The minarets were added to the building in 1903.
Hadji Mullah worked with camel
teams carrying materials and supplies for the Overland Telegraph Line, completed in 1872. This suggests that he was one of the first
of the cameleers to arrive in South Australia from 1865. Retiring to Adelaide, Hadji Mullah wanted a place where cameleers and traders
could practice their Islamic faith. Abdul Wade from the Quetta district of Afghanistan became the trustee and builder of the mosque.
He was a merchant and cameleer in the area of Bourke in outback New South Wales.
Falling into disrepair, the Adelaide Mosque was restored
during the 1950s and is still in use for worship, almost 130 years from its first construction.
Sources: Broken Hill Heritage City
Wikipedia - Broken Hill Mosque
Wikipedia - Marree Mosque
The Town Hall at right was built in 1890, complete with an elaborate tower (above right). When undergoing a rebuild in 1970, the facade and tower of this beautiful building was preserved.
Soldier memorial
A bronze statue of a World War I Australian soldier in battle-worn uniform, about to throw a Mills bomb, is the centre piece of the
monument and is referred to as 'The Bomber', by artist Charles Web Gilbert.
It stands on a cairn of rough cut Harcourt granite
and this rests on a platform of three surrounding steps. There are four bronze tablets with the names of 365 fallen from the district.
The memorial is at the corner of Argent street and Sulphide street.
Plaque
To the memory of the men of Broken Hill and district
who gave their lives in the Great War 1914 - 1918
Their name liveth for evermore
They
were a wall unto us both
By night and day