| Smithfield Adelaide, South Australia | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
  Smithfield | |||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 34°41′09″S138°41′12″E / 34.6859°S 138.6868°E | ||||||||||||||
| Population | 2,482 (SAL 2021) [1] | ||||||||||||||
| Established | 1854 | ||||||||||||||
| Postcode(s) | 5114 | ||||||||||||||
| Location | 30 km (19 mi) NE of Adelaide city centre | ||||||||||||||
| LGA(s) | City of Playford | ||||||||||||||
| State electorate(s) | Taylor | ||||||||||||||
| Federal division(s) | Spence | ||||||||||||||
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Smithfield is a suburb in the northern outskirts of Adelaide, South Australia. It is in the City of Playford.
Smithfield has Main North Road as its eastern boundary, with service stations, the historic Smithfield Hotel and several other businesses and private residences. Anderson Walk is the southern boundary of the original Township village subdivided by John Smith, which was arranged in a grid with Augusta Square in the centre. West of the older residential area is an industrial zone along the railway line, with Smithfield railway station on the south side of Anderson Walk. Munno Para Shopping City is on the south side of Smith Creek. There are more residential areas south and west of the railway station, and an Army Reserve depot west of the shopping centre which is home to the 3rd/9th Light Horse (South Australian Mounted Rifles) [2] and 49 ACU Army Cadets. [3]
Smithfield was an early settlement established between Salisbury and Gawler. Originally named ‘Smith’s Creek’ after John Smith a Scottish pioneer and one of the first european settlers in the area. In 1847 Smith was granted sections 1714, 1715 and 1719 along the Main North Road in the Hundred of Munno Para. The first home Smith built for his family was on Section 1714 with part of the building being used as the first inn in the area. Within six years he had purchased fourteen more sections of land and became the largest land owner in the area. [4] . Other early land owners who established farms in the district were also Scottish immigrants including James Umpherston, Gavin Scoular (a nephew of James Umpherston) who established Blair Farm and Hon. Thomas Hogarth M.P who built a homestead called Blair Place both located to the east on the hills face.
In 1853 Smith again added to his land with the purchase of section 3165. This new section was surveyed and subdivided in 1854 for his new township which he called Smithfield. The site of Township was on land adjacent to the were main road north intersected with a freshwater course now known as Smith Creek. [5] (or Grant Creek). [6] Smith built a homestead on his property in 1850 and set up part of it as a hotel to take advantage of traffic passing by on the main road. [7] [8] Smith planned a town and by 1853 section 3165 of the Hundred of Munno Para was surveyed and subdivided into town allotments. [8] He donated land in 1855 to build the Presbyterian church in the centre of the Township on Augusta Square [9] and by the 1880s, the township had a telegraph station, railway station, institute building [10] , school [11] , a store and several other service providers including Joseph Blake senior who established a Blacksmith, Coach building and Undertaker businesses on the lot adjacent to Smith's hotel. [8] Gawler Plains post office had opened on 12 July 1850 and was renamed Smithfield in 1855. [12]
A committee under the leadership of Joseph Blake junior was formed to established the Smithfield Recreation Park. The site chosen was on the corner of Main North Road and Anderson Walk which was approximately 12 acres and was purchased by a Trust which was established with Henry Joseph Twelftree, Frank Thomas Judd, William Kelly Adams, Melville Galbraith Smith and Joseph Blake as the Trustees. The sum of £140 was raised by subscriptions, and the balance was supplemented by a sports and fete, which was duly held on Saturday, April 19, 1923. The effort resulted in a return of £145, which after paying the outstanding liabilities, left a balance of £80 to be expended on improvements. [13]
On 10 September 1974 the land was transferred by the Trustees to the District Council of Munno Para which merged with the City of Elizabeth to form the City of Playford in 1997.
Smithfield Sports & Social Club is the current tenant and the oval is used by the Smithfield Cricket and Smithfield Football Clubs. [14]
A 1 mile (1.6 km) speedway track was built in the Smithfield area in 1926 by the Motorcycle Club of South Australia. The exact location may have been in what is now Elizabeth Downs. [15] The Smithfield Speedway was believed to be the first in the world to be promoted by a motorcycle club. [16] The first meeting was scheduled for Wednesday 13 October 1926, but postponed to Saturday 16 October due to poor weather. [17] The first race meeting was held before the grandstands were built, and the new track generated a lot of dust. [18] The track was on the east side of the Gawler Road, a little south of Smithfield township, in a paddock of 80 acres (32 ha). It appears to have only operated until about 1930. [19]
During the Second World war, the government built some munitions/ordinance factory and storage facility here. Parts of it were demolished in later years. [20]
Following World War II, a migrant hostel was established on land no longer required for a munitions depot near the railway line at Smithfield. It was operated by the Commonwealth Government from 1949 until 1971 on the land between the railway line and Coventry Road. [21] Single people were allocated space in a dormitory, families had a section of a larger building with two or three bedrooms and a sitting room. Cooking and eating was in a communal dining hall, and there were shared ablution blocks. It had accommodation for 100 people at the end of January 1949, and housed up to 300 people at a time. There was no charge to live in the hostel until the breadwinner of the family found a job. After that, the family was charged a rate proportional to their income for up to a year while they found a permanent home. [22] The hostel was initially a "camp for Balts", housing displaced people from Europe. By 1951, it was also home to British migrants. The Girl Guides operated in the hostel. [23]
Smithfield railway station on the Gawler railway line was originally built with a station building and opened in June 1857. The original station building on the eastern platform was demolished in 1987 and has been replaced by shelters which have been incorporated into the Bus Interchange.
Trains to and from Adelaide on the Gawler railway line operate from Smithfield station every 15 minutes at peak times on Monday to Friday, and every 30 minutes during off-peak and all day on Saturday and Sunday. In the morning and afternoon/evening peak hours, there are several trains that run express making stops at Smithfield, Elizabeth, Parafield, Salisbury and Mawson Interchanges. These are used by a significant number of passengers who either park their vehicle or transfer from buses at Smithfield Interchange.
Local buses from Smithfield Interchange, scheduled to connect with trains to and from Adelaide, use the Adelaide Metro integrated ticketing system.
One Tree Hill is a town on the outskirts of Adelaide, South Australia. It is located in the City of Playford.
The City of Playford is a local government area of South Australia in Adelaide's northern suburbs. It was named in recognition of Sir Thomas Playford, who played a part in the development of the area, and was South Australia's premier from 1938–1965. The city covers an area of 345 km2 (133 sq mi), and is home to over 90,000 residents. Playford was the fastest growing local government area in South Australia in the 2010s.
Elizabeth is an outer northern suburb of the Adelaide metropolitan area, South Australia, 24 km north of the Adelaide city centre. It is located in the City of Playford. At the 2021 census, Elizabeth had a population of 40,343.
The Town of Gawler is a local government area located north of Adelaide city centre in South Australia containing Gawler and its suburbs. The corporate town was established in 1857 due to the township's residents' dissatisfaction at being governed by three different district councils.
Smithfield railway station is a railway station and bus interchange in the northern Adelaide suburb of Smithfield. It is located on the Gawler line, 30.2 kilometres (18.8 mi) from Adelaide station.
Munno Para railway station is located on the Gawler line. Situated in the northern Adelaide suburb of Munno Para, it is located 32 kilometres (20 mi) from Adelaide station.
Taylor is a single-member electoral district for the South Australian House of Assembly. This district is named after Doris Irene Taylor MBE, a leading force in the founding of Meals on Wheels, and Labor activist. Taylor is a 246.2 km2 semi-urban electorate in Adelaide's outer northern suburbs and market gardens on the Adelaide Northern plains. A large portion of the district lives in the western half of the City of Playford and it is regarded as a safe Labor seat. It now includes the suburbs and townships of Andrews Farm, Angle Vale, Bolivar, Buckland Park, Davoren Park, Edinburgh, Edinburgh North, Elizabeth North, Eyre, Macdonald Park, Munno Para West, Penfield, Penfield Gardens, Riverlea Park, Smithfield, Smithfield Plains, St Kilda, Virginia, and Waterloo Corner.
Hillbank is a residential suburb of the City of Playford in the northern suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia. Hillbank was officially known as Elizabeth Heights until 23 December 1987 when it was renamed by the Geographical Names Advisory Committee. At the time Hillbank came under the Munno Para District Council.
Migrant hostels of South Australia were hostels where thousands of migrants passed from the 1940s to the 1980s. In South Australia, there were multiple sites in use, which provided temporary homes to a wide range of migrants, from Displaced Persons and refugees, through to "Ten Pound Poms". They were funded by the commonwealth and state governments and often established on vacated military sites.
Craigmore is a residential suburb north of Adelaide, South Australia. It is in the City of Playford local government area, east of Elizabeth, Elizabeth Park, Blakeview and north east of Hillbank and west of One Tree Hill, South Australia.
Davoren Park is a suburb at the northern extent of the Adelaide metropolitan area, South Australia in the City of Playford. The suburb was formed as renaming of Elizabeth Field and the residential northern part of Elizabeth West which at the time were in the City of Munno Para. on 11 November 1993. It was named after Davoren Road which is on the northern boundary of the suburb adjacent to Smithfield Plains. The Davoren family lived in Smithfield. Austin Davoren, who was a railway employee at Smithfield, died on 2 August 1924.
The City of Munno Para, formerly the District Council of Munno Para, was a local government area of South Australia from 6 November 1958 to 1997, seated at the township of Smithfield. In 1997 the City of Munno Para merged with the City of Elizabeth to form the new City of Playford.
Munno Para is a northern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is located in the City of Playford.
Andrews Farm is a northern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is located in the City of Playford.
In the Hundred of Munno Para the suburb of MacDonald Park was established by MacDonald Reid Pty Ltd in 1964.
Munno Para Downs is a northern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia in the City of Playford.
Penfield is a northern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia, in the City of Playford.
The Hundred of Munno Para is a cadastral unit of hundred covering the outer northern suburbs of Adelaide north of the Little Para River and the flanking semi-rural areas in South Australia. It is one of the eleven hundreds of the County of Adelaide. It was named in 1846 by Governor Frederick Robe, Munno Para being a term from a local Kaurna Aboriginal people meaning golden wattle creek. This name refers to either the Gawler River or the Little Para River.
The District Council of Munno Para East was a local government area of South Australia from 1853 to 1958, seated at Uleybury.
The District Council of Munno Mara West was a local government area of South Australia on the central Adelaide Plains from 1854 to 1933.
Derivation of Name: J Smith, early Landowner; Other Details: J Smith built the Smithfield Hotel in the 1850s. Subdivisions Smithfield Extension & Smithfield West included into this suburb. Proposal to add portion to Craigmore not approved by Geographical Names Board in 1989. Portion taken in 1990 together with portion of Munno Para and un-named land to create the suburb of Blakeview. Proposal in 1993 to rename portion as "Old Smithfield" not approved by Geographicl Names Advisory Committee.
