The Broken Hill Mosque was established in 1891 by Moslem cameleers and is situated on the site of the historic cameleers’ camp. Collectively referred to as Ghans, the cameleers were from Pakistan, Afghanistan and India. The Ghans arrived in Australia from the 1860s and assisted in building the infrastructure of the nation: laying train tracks and roads, building telegraph lines and fences and transporting goods between cattle and sheep stations and outback settlements.
The cameleers established a community in Broken Hill over the years and, in 1891, built their first mosque, originally a makeshift structure of galvanised iron. The building developed into a more permanent structure in 1902, then was rebuilt in 1937, which is the building you can see on this site today. It was restored and preserved by the Broken Hill Historical Society in 1968. The Mosque is still used as a place of worship by Muslim visitors. Inside there is a small prayer room and ante room. Outside is a water trough used for ritual purification. The building is now officially the Broken Hill Mosque Museum and is opened to the public at specific times.
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