| Strathalbyn South Australia | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 River Angas in Strathalbyn | |||||||||||||||
  Strathalbyn | |||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 35°16′0″S138°54′0″E / 35.26667°S 138.90000°E | ||||||||||||||
| Population | 6,504 (2016 census) [1] | ||||||||||||||
| Established | 1839 | ||||||||||||||
| Postcode(s) | 5255 | ||||||||||||||
| Location | 60 km (37 mi) from Adelaide | ||||||||||||||
| LGA(s) | Alexandrina Council | ||||||||||||||
| Region | Fleurieu and Kangaroo Island [2] | ||||||||||||||
| Federal division(s) | Mayo | ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
Strathalbyn is a town in South Australia, in the Alexandrina Council. In 2016, the town had a population of approximately 6,500. [1]
Strathalbyn is 60 km southeast of Adelaide on the banks of the River Angas, at the southeastern edge of the Adelaide Hills and beginning of the Fleurieu Peninsula.
Strathalbyn has a warm-summer mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification: Csb).
| Climate data for Strathalbyn (70m ASL) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 45.0 (113.0) | 43.8 (110.8) | 42.9 (109.2) | 37.4 (99.3) | 28.8 (83.8) | 26.7 (80.1) | 26.8 (80.2) | 27.4 (81.3) | 34.4 (93.9) | 37.8 (100.0) | 43.4 (110.1) | 42.2 (108.0) | 45.0 (113.0) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 27.4 (81.3) | 27.4 (81.3) | 25.4 (77.7) | 21.8 (71.2) | 18.3 (64.9) | 15.6 (60.1) | 14.8 (58.6) | 15.9 (60.6) | 18.3 (64.9) | 21.0 (69.8) | 24.0 (75.2) | 26.1 (79.0) | 21.3 (70.3) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 20.5 (68.9) | 20.5 (68.9) | 18.8 (65.8) | 15.9 (60.6) | 13.3 (55.9) | 11.1 (52.0) | 10.4 (50.7) | 11.0 (51.8) | 12.7 (54.9) | 14.8 (58.6) | 17.2 (63.0) | 19.2 (66.6) | 15.4 (59.7) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 13.6 (56.5) | 13.5 (56.3) | 12.1 (53.8) | 10.0 (50.0) | 8.2 (46.8) | 6.6 (43.9) | 5.9 (42.6) | 6.1 (43.0) | 7.1 (44.8) | 8.6 (47.5) | 10.4 (50.7) | 12.2 (54.0) | 9.5 (49.1) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 5.0 (41.0) | 4.4 (39.9) | 3.4 (38.1) | 0.4 (32.7) | −2.0 (28.4) | −2.9 (26.8) | −3.0 (26.6) | −1.8 (28.8) | −0.8 (30.6) | −0.1 (31.8) | 2.3 (36.1) | 4.3 (39.7) | −3.0 (26.6) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 20.1 (0.79) | 21.2 (0.83) | 23.6 (0.93) | 38.1 (1.50) | 53.8 (2.12) | 59.4 (2.34) | 64.7 (2.55) | 61.1 (2.41) | 53.0 (2.09) | 43.1 (1.70) | 28.4 (1.12) | 25.8 (1.02) | 492.8 (19.40) |
| Average rainy days | 4.8 | 4.7 | 6.5 | 9.7 | 13.0 | 14.1 | 15.5 | 15.9 | 13.3 | 11.0 | 7.8 | 6.7 | 123.0 |
| Average relative humidity (%) (at 3pm) | 43 | 45 | 46 | 53 | 62 | 66 | 65 | 60 | 55 | 51 | 45 | 44 | 53 |
| Source: [3] | |||||||||||||
Aboriginal Australian people are indigenous to the area in which Strathalbyn is now located. Among them were tribes which are now commonly described as the Ngarrindjeri people, a generic ethnonym popularised by English missionary George Taplin for the various, distinct groups of people who occupied much of the Fleurieu Peninsula, lower Murray River and Coorong regions prior to and after colonisation. [4]
The town was founded in 1839, the first landholders being Dr. Rankine, followed by Donald McLean.
In 1846, the cadastral division, the Hundred of Strathalbyn, was proclaimed including the township of Strathalbyn at the south-western corner of the division.
Strathalbyn was once a major stop on the route from Adelaide to Melbourne.
The streets were laid out in a broad and liberal manner, with a large area reserved on either side of the River Angas for recreation purposes, plus a site for a Presbyterian Church and cemetery. [5] The community was soon the centre for a large pastoral and farming population, many of Scottish origin. Mining later became important in the area.
The District Council of Strathalbyn was established in 1854. In 1868 a municipal council, the Corporation of Strathalbyn, was formed by the secession of section 2600 of the Hundred of Strathalbyn from the district council. The town and district councils re-amalgamated in 1976.
Strathalbyn was connected by broad gauge horse tram to Goolwa and Victor Harbor from 1869. The Victor Harbor railway line was extended to Mount Barker and Adelaide and was upgraded for steam engines from 1884. It was isolated again in 1995 when the Adelaide-Melbourne railway line was converted to standard gauge. The SteamRanger historic tourist train runs on the isolated broad gauge line, including stops at Strathalbyn.
Small lead, zinc, gold and copper mines operated in the area in the later part of the 19th century. These have all been long closed, and did not have a significant effect on the development of the town. [6]
In 2008, mining company Terramin Australia Ltd established an underground zinc mine situated in a quarry east of the town, injecting an estimated $29 million into the local economy and creating around 100 jobs. [7] The mine was expected to yield zinc and lead, with small quantities of silver, gold and copper, and operate for seven years. [8] This proposal was opposed by "The Residents for a Future Strathalbyn Inc." who were concerned about ecologically unsustainable development within their district. [9]
The mine stopped operating in October 2013 due to low metal prices and the economic ore reserve running out. The closure resulted in over 100 jobs being lost to the town. [10] It is possible that the zinc mine will reopen to extract more ore if the sale price increases. [11] A 5MW/10MWh Compressed air energy storage demonstration project is scheduled for the mine. [12]
Strathalbyn has four pubs on the centre of town, The Victoria, The Robin Hood, The Terminus, and the Commercial. It is host to an annual collectors, hobbies and antique fair, held the third weekend of August every year. Other popular events are the Strathalbyn Rotary Club's renowned Duck Race, [13] the Strathalbyn Show, and the collaborative Street Parade and Carols by Candlelight. There is a Sunday market, once per month, at Gilbert’s Motor Museum on High Street.
In 1975, street scenes from the film Picnic at Hanging Rock were filmed in the town.
The Children's Bridge is a pedestrian bridge over the river in the park.
The Strathalbyn Post Office was entered in the Commonwealth Heritage List in 2004. [14] The Strathalbyn Post Office, constructed in 1911–1912, is historically important for its association with the development of the township of Strathalbyn. It is an example of an Edwardian Baroque and Arts and Crafts movement hybrid, applied to a public building in the 'Commonwealth' style.
Strathalbyn is recognised internationally for its main street full of antique shops with London House being one of the most historic. Andrew Douglas Ambrose Murrell, b. 22 July 1945 was a prominent South Australian art and antiques dealer operating out of the well-known London House in the 1980s who later went on to become an oil painter. [15]
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Truro is a town in South Australia, 80 km northeast of Adelaide. It is situated in an agricultural and pastoral district on the Sturt Highway, east of the Barossa Valley, where the highway crosses somewhat lofty and rugged parts of the Mount Lofty Ranges. At the 2021 census, Truro had a population of 523.
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.
The Mount Lofty Ranges are a range of mountains in the Australian state of South Australia which for a small part of its length borders the east of Adelaide. The part of the range in the vicinity of Adelaide is called the Adelaide Hills and defines the eastern border of the Adelaide Plains.
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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.
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.
Langhorne Creek wine region is a wine region in South Australia that is located on the plains southeast of the town of Strathalbyn along the lower reaches of the Bremer River and Angas River to Lake Alexandrina. The region received appellation as an Australian Geographical Indication (AGI) in 1998 and as of 2014, has a total planted area of 5,883 ha and is represented by at least 24 wineries.
Ellen Street railway station was the second of six stations that operated successively between 1875 and the early 2010s to serve the rural maritime town of Port Pirie, 216 km (134 mi) by rail north of Adelaide, South Australia. Soon after construction of the line towards Gladstone began in 1875, an impromptu passenger service commenced. The inaugural station, Port Pirie South, was 800 metres from the centre of the town. Since two tracks had already been laid down the middle of Ellen Street to the wharves, a small corrugated iron shed was erected as a ticket and parcels office. The street-side location was unusual for the South Australian Railways. In 1902, when passenger traffic had increased greatly, a stone building was erected in a striking Victorian Pavilion style. After the tracks were removed in 1967 and the station closed, the building's design assured its retention as a museum of the National Trust of South Australia.
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.
The Bird-in-Hand mine was an underground gold mine near Woodside in the Adelaide Hills east of Adelaide in South Australia. It was the largest of 17 gold mines in the area, and operated between 1881 and 1889. It produced 10,500 ounces (300,000 g) of gold at an average grade of 12.9 grams per tonne in the 1880s. The mine closed when the inflow of water made it uneconomic to continue, and miners moved to Broken Hill where rich ore had been found.
Strathalbyn railway station is a preserved railway station in the southeastern edge of the Adelaide Hills, South Australia, on the broad gauge Victor Harbor line, formerly operated by South Australian Railways and its successor, Australian National.
