Marble Bar is a town and rock formation in the Pilbara region of north-western Western Australia. Its extremely hot climate, with a mean maximum temperature second only to Wyndham, Western Australia has resulted in the town being well known for its hot weather. History Fossilised stromatolites, found near Marble Bar, are one of the earliest forms of life on Earth, dating to 3.5 billion years ago during the Paleoarchean era, when at that time oxygen produced aerobic organisms. The town was officially gazetted in 1893 following the discovery of gold in the area in 1890 by a prospector named Francis Jenkins who is remembered by the name of the town's main street. The name Marble Bar was derived from a nearby jasper bar mistaken for marble and now known as Marble Bar, which runs across the bed of the Coongan River. In 1891 the town boasted a population in excess of 5,000 as it experienced a rush on the goldfields. Several large gold nuggets were discovered as a result of the goldrush. The 333 ounce Little Hero nugget, the 413 ounce Bobby Dazzler and the 332 ounce General Gordon nugget were all found in the goldfields around the town. By 1895 the town had its Government offices built; these are now National Trust buildings. Cut from local stone, the buildings still stand today. The town's Ironclad Hotel was built in the 1890s, and has been listed on the Western Australian register of heritage places since 2006. It is constructed of corrugated iron, and was given its name by American miners who were reminded of the Ironclad ships from the United States. During World War II, United States Army Air Forces and Royal Australian Air Force heavy bombers were based away as the crow flies at Corunna Downs Airfield. Allied airmen from the base attacked Japanese forces as far away as Borneo. The Port Hedland to Marble Bar Railway opened on 15 July 1911, costing around £300,000 to build. Due to low traffic and high financial losses, the railway closed from 31 May 1951. This railway could be seen as a narrow gauge precursor to the network of standard gauge iron-ore railways that have since been created across the Pilbara. Climate Marble Bar has a hot desert climate (Köppen BWh) with sweltering summers and warm winters. Most of the annual rainfall occurs in the summer. The town set a world record