White Cliffs is an opal mining town, situated in a desert area of far north western, New South Wales. Opals where first discovered in the area in 1884 and the town was founded in about 1889. With the discovery of some valuable stones, the town began to rapidly grow and by about 1900 there were over 1,000 resident miners. Miners continued to flock to the area, increasing the population to about four thousand, until about 1914 when the first world war broke out and Australian citizens were called for military service.
More: continued here