Culburra and District Soldiers' War Memorial Hall built 1976. South Australia
The Culburra and District Soldiers’ War Memorial Hall was built in 1976.
For many years it was the centre of a lively proactive community. During the last few years it has been used regularly by the Culburra Old Time Dance Group. In December 2016 this dance group folded due to lack of numbers, and the entire Hall Committee resigned.
In February 2017 a large district meeting resulted in a new committee being elected, and, as in many small communities, the Hall Committee, Progress Association and the Tennis Club have all amalgamated.
This new committee has decided to open the toilets and parking area to the travelling public, in an effort to raise enough funds to cover the insurance, water, power and toilet consumables.
*Dewson Siding opened 30 August 1911. Station name changed to Culburra 5 April 1915. Railway Station closed and demolished 3 March 1993.
Culburra was a thriving self supporting township with a community-owned weighbridge, sheep and cattle yards and a railway siding from which thousands of tons of handpicked stumps were hand loaded and trucked away. These were a direct by-product of the land clearing and development of the district which continued well into the 1980s, making Culburra the highly diversified and productive farming area that it is today.
Originally the siding (which was un-named) was used as a mail drop for the surrounding district of Culburra, this being the postal address for the area.
In 1910 Rosetta Roberts requested that the siding be called “Dewson” after her father who rode through this area with Tolmer on the Gold Escort. Rosetta was known to ride her cow into the siding to collect the mail from the train. She would then lead it back home (Old Coonalpyn Homestead) delivering the mail along the way and arrive in time to milk the cow.
In 1915 the siding was changed to Culburra Railway Station and by then had 2 platforms, one for goods and one for passengers. There were also 2 spur lines, one of which was alongside the stock loading ramps.
Dewson Reserve across the road was dedicated in 1972.
*The “Blossoming” Desert-Fringe of the Scrub.
There are several new settlers at Culburra. and it was easy to see that they will put their land to a test without any delay. Every man has rolled some scrub and most of them were only waiting for an opportunity to get a good burn. Messrs Tregonning Bros, whose boundary abuts the siding, are proving energetic settlers, and they will soon have some hundreds of acres in readiness for the disc plough. Incidentally, it may be mentioned that a kitchen garden, established less than 12 months ago, has grown first-class vegetables of most kinds and strawberries have almost run riot.
A limited area was under crop in the district last year, and as much of it was put in in a hurry the estimated average of from 7 to 8 bushels was encouraging. As to what these settlers may expect from their sandy soils when cleared of mallee and undergrowth experience at White Forest, Mr E Aitchison's property, on the opposite side of the railway will indicate. The land is more or less light sandy loam, somewhat cold in places, over clay, and in some cases limestone. [Ref: Chronicle (Adelaide SA) 18-3-1911]
Culburra and District Soldiers' War Memorial Hall built 1976. South Australia
The Culburra and District Soldiers’ War Memorial Hall was built in 1976.
For many years it was the centre of a lively proactive community. During the last few years it has been used regularly by the Culburra Old Time Dance Group. In December 2016 this dance group folded due to lack of numbers, and the entire Hall Committee resigned.
In February 2017 a large district meeting resulted in a new committee being elected, and, as in many small communities, the Hall Committee, Progress Association and the Tennis Club have all amalgamated.
This new committee has decided to open the toilets and parking area to the travelling public, in an effort to raise enough funds to cover the insurance, water, power and toilet consumables.
*Dewson Siding opened 30 August 1911. Station name changed to Culburra 5 April 1915. Railway Station closed and demolished 3 March 1993.
Culburra was a thriving self supporting township with a community-owned weighbridge, sheep and cattle yards and a railway siding from which thousands of tons of handpicked stumps were hand loaded and trucked away. These were a direct by-product of the land clearing and development of the district which continued well into the 1980s, making Culburra the highly diversified and productive farming area that it is today.
Originally the siding (which was un-named) was used as a mail drop for the surrounding district of Culburra, this being the postal address for the area.
In 1910 Rosetta Roberts requested that the siding be called “Dewson” after her father who rode through this area with Tolmer on the Gold Escort. Rosetta was known to ride her cow into the siding to collect the mail from the train. She would then lead it back home (Old Coonalpyn Homestead) delivering the mail along the way and arrive in time to milk the cow.
In 1915 the siding was changed to Culburra Railway Station and by then had 2 platforms, one for goods and one for passengers. There were also 2 spur lines, one of which was alongside the stock loading ramps.
Dewson Reserve across the road was dedicated in 1972.
*The “Blossoming” Desert-Fringe of the Scrub.
There are several new settlers at Culburra. and it was easy to see that they will put their land to a test without any delay. Every man has rolled some scrub and most of them were only waiting for an opportunity to get a good burn. Messrs Tregonning Bros, whose boundary abuts the siding, are proving energetic settlers, and they will soon have some hundreds of acres in readiness for the disc plough. Incidentally, it may be mentioned that a kitchen garden, established less than 12 months ago, has grown first-class vegetables of most kinds and strawberries have almost run riot.
A limited area was under crop in the district last year, and as much of it was put in in a hurry the estimated average of from 7 to 8 bushels was encouraging. As to what these settlers may expect from their sandy soils when cleared of mallee and undergrowth experience at White Forest, Mr E Aitchison's property, on the opposite side of the railway will indicate. The land is more or less light sandy loam, somewhat cold in places, over clay, and in some cases limestone. [Ref: Chronicle (Adelaide SA) 18-3-1911]