Arthur Watts Hut

Known as Arthur Watts Hut or Arthur Watts Store Hut. Also known as Lone Star Mining Hut or Storekeeper’s Hut.

Location

On the Lone Star mining lease near Golconda, between Lilydale and Scottsdale in north-east Tasmania.

History

Arthur Watts (1878–1957) was a miner. He initially lived with his wife, Barbara, at St Helens. After her early death, he moved to his mother’s house at Golconda, where he lived until she died in 1940.

Arthur then moved to Lone Star and built a main residence and a store hut. He kept both buildings impeccably, choosing a site with fresh water available from a nearby stream.

The remains of the store hut are the only visible buildings today. Large metal hooks hanging from the ceiling provided evidence of its use.

The area is better known for the Lone Star gold mine, which operated around Golconda during the nineteenth century. This mining association accounts for the hut’s alternative names.

Construction

The supplied photographs show weathered timber walls and the remains of a steeply pitched roof. Much of the structure has collapsed and is surrounded by ferns.

References

Mountain Huts Preservation Society, March 2026, as cited in the supplied Arthur Watts Hut notes.