| 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 village, 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]
Settlement of Smithfield occurred circa 1850 when Scottish immigrant, John Smith took ownship of land where the main road north intersected with a freshwater course now known as Smith Creek (or Grant Creek). [4] 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. [5] [6] Smith planned a town and by 1853 section 3165 of the Hundred of Munno Para was surveyed and subdivided into town allotments. [6] He donated land in 1855 to build the Presbyterian church and, by 1860, the fledgling town had a telegraph station, railway station, institute building, a store, and several other service providers. [6] Gawler Plains post office had opened on 12 July 1850 and was renamed Smithfield in 1855. [7]
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. [8] The Smithfield Speedway was believed to be the first in the world to be promoted by a motorcycle club. [9] The first meeting was scheduled for Wednesday 13 October 1926, but postponed to Saturday 16 October due to poor weather. [10] The first race meeting was held before the grandstands were built, and the new track generated a lot of dust. [11] 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. [12]
During the Second World war, the government built some munitions/ordinance factory and storage facility here. Parts of it were demolished in later years. [13]
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. [14] 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. [15] 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. [16]
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.
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.
Evanston, formerly Evans Town, is a suburb south of the town of Gawler, South Australia. It contains the Gawler and District College and Gawler Racecourse as well as a supermarket and homemaker centre containing bulky goods stores such as carpet, fishing, electrical and bike and motorbike shops.
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.
Northern Expressway, also known as the Fatchen Northern Expressway, is a 21 kilometre long controlled-access highway in Adelaide, South Australia. Since March 2020, the North–South Motorway continues west of Port Wakefield Highway and intersects the Port River Expressway to reach the harbour at Port Adelaide. These are the northernmost two parts of the North–South Corridor.
Migrant hostels of South Australia are hostels where thousands of migrants passed from the 1940s to the 1980s. In South Australia these included Elder Park, Gawler, Gepps Cross, Glenelg, Hendon, Mallala, Pennington/Finsbury, Peterborough, Rosewater, Salisbury, Semaphore, Smithfield, Willaston, Whyalla, Woodside and Woodville. The hostels were temporary homes to a wide range of migrants, from Displaced Persons and refugees, through to "Ten Pound Poms".
Craigmore is a large suburb north of Adelaide, South Australia. It is in the City of Playford local government area, just east of Elizabeth and south of Gawler.
The City of Elizabeth was a local government area located in the northern suburbs of Adelaide and seated at Elizabeth from 1964 to 1997.
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.
Blakeview is a northern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is located in the City of Playford. Blakeview is predominantly a residential suburb, but also has two commercial areas and two education areas.
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 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.
