Port Elliot South Australia | |||||||||||||||
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Coordinates | 35°32′04″S138°40′44″E / 35.534569°S 138.67876°E [1] | ||||||||||||||
Population | 2,102 (2016 census) [2] | ||||||||||||||
Established | By 1852 (town) 9 September 1993 (locality) [3] [4] | ||||||||||||||
Postcode(s) | 5212 | ||||||||||||||
Time zone | ACST (UTC+9:30) | ||||||||||||||
• Summer (DST) | ACST (UTC+10:30) | ||||||||||||||
Location | 84 km (52 mi) from Adelaide | ||||||||||||||
LGA(s) | Alexandrina Council [1] | ||||||||||||||
Region | Fleurieu and Kangaroo Island [5] | ||||||||||||||
County | Hindmarsh [1] | ||||||||||||||
State electorate(s) | Finniss [6] | ||||||||||||||
Federal division(s) | Mayo [7] | ||||||||||||||
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Footnotes | Adjoining localities [1] |
Port Elliot is a town in South Australia toward the eastern end of the south coast of the Fleurieu Peninsula. It is situated on the sheltered Horseshoe Bay, a small bay off the much larger Encounter Bay. Pullen Island lies outside the mouth of the bay. At the 2006 census, Port Elliot had a population of 1,754, [9] although this section of the coast is now built up almost all the way from Goolwa to Victor Harbor.
Lady Bay is a small bay at the south-western end of Horseshoe Bay, past the jetty. [10] [11]
Horseshoe Bay was proclaimed a port in 1851, and the settlement above the bay was named Port Elliot in 1852 after Charles Elliot, the Governor of Bermuda who was a friend of the then Governor of South Australia, Sir Henry Young. The location had been previously known as Freeman's Knob; the aboriginal name for the area may have been "Witengangool". [12]
Freemans Nob was used as a lookout post for shore-base bay whaling stations in Encounter Bay in the late 1830s. [13] The area was also used as a place to launch boats in 1842 for Hargan and Hart's whaling station at Rosetta Head.
The port was established to provide a safe seaport for the Murray river trade which terminated at Goolwa as the Murray Mouth was deemed too treacherous and unpredictable for safe navigation. Goods and passengers were carried between Goolwa and Port Elliot on the first public railway in Australia completed in 1854. [14]
The government works to establish the port included Australia's first reticulated water supply, from wells at Waterport (about 1 km north of the bay) to tanks above the jetty which provided fresh water for ships as well as for the town. In 1864 after a number of disastrous shipping losses in Horseshoe Bay the railway was extended to Victor Harbor which provided safer access for ships. Port Elliot's role as a port ended, with the bay and jetty being left to the fishermen and beachgoers. The importance of the rail link between the river and the sea soon also ended with the building of a railway between Adelaide and Morgan which enabled river traffic to offload freight and passengers over 260 kilometres (160 mi) further upstream and rail them directly to Adelaide. The towns of the southern Fleurieu coast – Victor Harbor, Port Elliot, Middleton and Goolwa – were spared any further commercial or industrial development, and became a popular holiday destination with many guest houses, camping parks and 'weekender' houses and shacks. The nearby early subdivisions of Waterport, Louisville, Findon, Ville St.Louis and Elliot Town are now all considered part of Port Elliot.[ citation needed ]
The beaches of Port Elliot and Victor Harbour have been facing rising seas and more has to be done to stop this. [15]
Today, Port Elliot is a quiet township with two hotels, three churches, six coffee shops, no fast food chains, and is a popular holiday destination close enough to Adelaide for day trippers and even commuters. The continuing expansion of the Greater Adelaide metropolitan area together with ongoing improvements to the road links between the Fleurieu Peninsula and Adelaide has brought an influx of "seachange retirees", driving up house and land prices, and adversely affecting the ability of local young people and families to remain in the area. Employment prospects are largely limited to hospitality work, aged care and the building trades which continue to benefit from rapid growth in the region.[ citation needed ]
In 2007, Port Elliot became the focus of unwanted media attention due to the murder of 15-year-old Carly Ryan at Lady Bay. On 21 January 2010, a 50-year-old man from Victoria was found guilty of the murder while his son was found not guilty. [16]
Little penguins once bred at Freeman's Knob. In 1981 a dog attack left at least 10 adult penguins dead and numerous eggs broken and empty. It was posited that this event may have rendered the colony extinct. [17]
Victor Harbor is a town in the Australian state of South Australia located within the City of Victor Harbor on the south coast of the Fleurieu Peninsula, about 82 kilometres (51 mi) south of the state capital of Adelaide. The town is the largest population centre on the peninsula, with an economy based upon agriculture, fisheries, and tourism. It is a popular tourist destination, with the area's population greatly expanded during the summer holidays, usually by Adelaide locals looking to escape the summer heat.
Granite Island, also known by the Ramindjeri people as Nulcoowarra, is a small island next to Victor Harbor, South Australia, about 80 km south of South Australia's capital city, Adelaide.
Encounter Bay is a bay in the Australian state of South Australia located on the state's south central coast about 100 kilometres (62 mi) south of the state capital of Adelaide. It was named by Matthew Flinders after his encounter on 8 April 1802 with Nicolas Baudin, the commander of the Baudin expedition of 1800–03. It is the site of both the mouth of the River Murray and the regional city of Victor Harbor. It is one of four "historic bays" located on the South Australian coast.
Goolwa, known as The Elbow to early settlers, is an historic river port on the Murray River near the Murray Mouth in South Australia. Goolwa is approximately 85 km (53 mi) south of Adelaide, and is joined by a bridge to Hindmarsh Island.
The first railway in colonial South Australia was a line from the port of Goolwa on the River Murray to an ocean harbour at Port Elliot, which first operated in December 1853, before its completion in May 1854.
Alexandrina Council is a local government area in the Fleurieu and Kangaroo Island region of South Australia. The Alexandrina Council was formed on 1 July 1997 by the amalgamation of the District Council of Port Elliot and Goolwa, the District Council of Strathalbyn and a portion of the District Council of Willunga. The council is divided into five wards: Nangkita Kuitpo, Angas Bremer, Port Elliot Middleton, Strathalbyn and Goolwa Hindmarsh Island.
Port Broughton is a small South Australian town located at the northern extent of the Yorke Peninsula on the east coast of Spencer Gulf. It is situated about 170 km north-west of Adelaide, and 56 km south of Port Pirie. At the 2016 census, the town of Port Broughton had a population of 1,034.
The District Council of Yankalilla is a local government area centred on the town of Yankalilla on the Fleurieu Peninsula in South Australia.
The Victor Harbor railway line is a 1600 mm broad gauge line in South Australia. It originally branched from the Adelaide to Melbourne line at Mount Barker Junction then ran 80.6 kilometres south to Victor Harbor. When the mainline was converted to 1435 mm standard gauge and the junction was closed, the northern end of the Victor Harbor line was curtailed at Mount Barker, 3 kilometres from the junction.
Milang is a town and locality located in the Australian state of South Australia on the west coast of Lake Alexandrina about 71 kilometres (44 mi) south-east of the state capital of Adelaide and about 20 kilometres (12 mi) north-east of the municipal seat of Goolwa.
The City of Victor Harbor is a local government area of South Australia. It covers an area of 386.5 square kilometres (149.2 sq mi) along the coast, about 80 kilometres (50 mi) south of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. The council is responsible for the town of Victor Harbor, which contains over 85% of its population, and the surrounding rural area to the north and west. The City of Victor Harbor had an estimated population of over 14,000 at the 2016 Census.
Hayborough is a north-eastern suburb of the South Australian town of Victor Harbor, located on the south coast of Fleurieu Peninsula.
The Southern Argus is a newspaper first published from March 1866 in Port Elliot, South Australia, and then in Strathalbyn from 1868 to the present. It is published on Thursdays.
Rosetta Head, known as Kongkengguwar by the Ramindjeri people but more commonly known as The Bluff, is a headland located on the south coast of Fleurieu Peninsula in Encounter Bay, South Australia, within the local government area of the City of Victor Harbor. It is a prominent landmark on the coast, about 77 kilometres south of the state capital of Adelaide, and currently used as a recreational reserve.
Transport in South Australia is provided by a mix of road, rail, sea and air transport. The capital city of Adelaide is the centre to transport in the state. With its population of 1.4 million people, it has the majority of the state's 1.7 million inhabitants. Adelaide has the state's major airport and sea port.
The Times, also known as The Victor Harbor Times, is a newspaper published weekly in Victor Harbor, South Australia, since August 1912. Its title has, as with most regional newspapers, undergone a series of name changes and simplifications over its history. It was later sold to Rural Press, previously owned by Fairfax Media, but now an Australian media company trading as Australian Community Media.
The Milang railway line was a branch line, now closed, of the former South Australian Railways that left the mainline to Victor Harbor at the farming locality of Sandergrove, 9 km (5.6 mi) south of Strathalbyn and 89.7 km (55.7 mi) by rail from Adelaide. From there it proceeded in a south-easterly direction for 13.1 km (8.1 mi) to the riverport of Milang on Lake Alexandrina, in the estuary of the River Murray. The line was opened on 17 December 1884; it was formally closed on 17 June 1970. The route is now a "rail trail" that is popular with hikers. The precincts of the former Milang station house a railway museum that includes an innovative locomotive driving simulator for visitors to operate. Onsite is a centre for South Australian historical light railways.
The County of Hindmarsh is one of the 49 cadastral counties of South Australia. It was proclaimed by Governor George Grey in 1842 and named for Governor John Hindmarsh.
Goolwa Beach is both a locality in the Australian state of South Australia located about 67 kilometres south of the Adelaide city centre located on land overlooking Encounter Bay on the southern continental coastline, and the name of the 11 km section of beach that runs from Goolwa Beach to the Murray Mouth.
Chiton is a locality in the Australian state of South Australia located on the south coast of Fleurieu Peninsula about 67 kilometres (42 mi) south of the state capital of Adelaide and about 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) west of the municipal seat of Goolwa.
portions of Crown Lands will be offered for sale by Public Auction, at the Court House, Adelaide, on Wednesday the twenty-sixth day of May, 1852" including the "Township of Port Elliot
Media related to Port Elliot, South Australia at Wikimedia Commons