Peterborough. The railways Sound and Light Show at the Roundhouse. Steamtown . Sound and Light Show viewed from an old railway carriage on the turntable. Look closely and you can see the turntable in foreground.

Railways in Peterborough.

Early railways in South Australia headed out from the ports inland to the farming areas and one was from Port Pirie to Crystal Brook in 1874. This line was significant for Peterborough in January 1881.Meanwhile, the railway from Burra (it reached there in 1870) and been extended to Hallett in 1878. But as early as 1874 the premier, Mr Boucaut was talking about running the line north from Hallett to connect to Port Augusta via Quorn. The line up to Burra from Adelaide was broad gauge- 5 feet 3 inches, but the line up from Port Pirie to Peterborough was narrow gauge - 3 feet 6 inches. The first surveys for this great northern line were made in 1876 and the township of Lancelot was fixed as the point where the broad gauge line would end and the narrow gauge line to Peterborough and Quorn would begin. Not long after this, the government made a new decision to terminate the broad gauge line at Terowie (and not at Lancelot) and create a junction at section 216 north of Terowie to have a spur line across to the existing line at Jamestown. As soon as the owner of section 216 heard of this plan he subdivided his land, auctioned it off, and created a township at the rail junction which he called Petersburg after his German friend Peter Doecke. The narrow gauge line from Jamestown reached Peterborough (then Petersburg) in January 1881. At the same time the broad gauge line was opened from Hallett to Terowie.

Contracts for the construction of the line from Terowie to Quorn were let almost immediately and the line reached Peterborough from Terowie in June of 1881 thus linking the southern and Pirie rail systems. The line north from Peterborough to Quorn opened in stages with the first stage to Orroroo open in late 1881. The line reached Quorn in 1882 and later in that year the first connecting rail service from Adelaide to Port Augusta was operated. After federation Port Augusta was linked with Kalgoorlie in Western Australia in 1917 and the rail service from the eastern states to Perth passed through Peterborough then Quorn, Port Augusta and on to Perth. This main national railway line passed through Peterborough until mid 1937 when the new line was opened across the Adelaide Plains from Salisbury to Port Pirie and on to Port Augusta and Perth. Pictured above is the Railway Hotel in Peterborough with the cupola.

 

Peterborough’s importance as a rail junction and centre was strengthened in 1884 with the discovery of the world’s richest silver, lead and zinc deposit at a site which became known as Broken Hill. The South Australian government in 1886 passed an Act authorising the construction of a new railway from Peterborough to the SA border location closest to Broken Hill. The government could see that the riches of the mines could assist SA as it had the closest port, and wharf facilities. The terminus of the line was at Cockburn on the border which was reached by January 1887. The NSW government, in typical fashion, had refused permission for SAR to build a line to Broken Hill, so a private railway was built for the last 30 miles into Broken Hill called the Silverton Tramway Company. SAR operated and provided rolling stock etc for the Silverton Tramway Company for some time after the line opened! This northern railway division was known as the Peterborough Division and the town blossomed as the administrative, workshop and rail centre for the top half of the settled areas of South Australia. In later years the line north from

Gladstone to Wilmington (1915) was added to the division and it also controlled the line north from Quorn to Farina.

 

More recently the narrow gauge line from Port Pirie was converted to standard gauge through to Broken Hill in 1970. At the same time the line from Terowie to Peterborough was converted to a broad gauge line. This then meant that Peterborough had three gauges. But it was not too long after that the rail passenger service from Adelaide via Terowie ceased as the new standard gauge line between Adelaide and Crystal Brook (and consequentially Peterborough and Sydney) was opened in 1982. Services south from Peterborough to Adelaide though Terowie ceased not long after in 1986. In 1957 a railcar service between Peterborough and Quorn had commenced but this ceased operating in 1980 with a reduced service just to Orroroo remaining. That stopped a year later. Steam Town Society began in 1981 to preserve the Old Round House rail turntable and workshops and the steam locomotive services of the district. SAR was taken over by the Commonwealth Government in 1974 and became part of Australian National with a consequent demise of the workshops and numbers of rail employees in Peterborough.

 

Peterborough (population 1,500.)

Alexander McCulloch took up a pastoral lease in this area in 1850. He held it until much of the area was resumed for closer settlement in 1869. The Hundred of Yongala was declared soon after but settlement did not begin until around 1875. The section where Peterborough now stands was taken up by Peter Doecke in 1875. He sent his niece and her husband from the Barossa Valley to settle the section in 1876. Once the government sent surveyors to determine the junction of the railways from Jamestown and Terowie, Peter Doecke had township allotments surveyed and created a private town in 1880. He called it Petersburg. (This was changed during World War One in 1917 when all German place names were changed.) In the same year Doecke sold some land to the government for railway and government purposes and a Post Office was opened in 1880, along with a Telegraph station in 1881, and a railway station in 1881. A police station and two hotels soon followed in 1881. Banks, shops and service industries followed, along with churches, and a government school in 1881 with the current buildings opening in 1883. There was frenzied activity to establish a major town at this important rail junction. The town developed more once a railway from Petersburg to the SA/NSW border to tap into the silver mines of Silverton (1887) was authorised. The coming of age of the town was reached quickly with the opening of the Institute in 1884 and the establishment of the town corporation and the opening of the adjoining Town Hall in 1894. The lifeblood of any town was always industry which would provide employment. Although Peterborough had the railways it soon had other significant industries too. The first was the flourmill which opened in 1885 and operated until 1924 when it was converted into premises for freezing rabbits and for producing ice. A cordial factory was established in 1894 and operated until 1976 when the factory was burnt down. The cordial factory had various owners over the years and after a visit by the Governor in 1899 it was granted Vice Regal approval! In the early days from 1899 until 1915 another factory produced temperance drinks, relishes and Worcestershire sauce.

 

Given the town was just outside Goyder’s Line it is somewhat surprising that Peterborough had a butter factory from 1898 until well into the 1930s. Butter was exported to England. Milk was supplied to the factory from a wide area including Orroroo, Hallett and Hammond from over 100 suppliers. It was usually sent by rail to Peterborough and often came from properties with only one or two cows which were hand milked. The town also had its own printing works from 1887 to produce a local newspaper. Papers for Orroroo and Quorn were also printed in Peterborough. The printing works surviving until 1970 when all operations were taken over by the printers in Port Pirie.

 

Peterborough was also special in that the government established a Gold Battery in the town in 1897 with an attached cyanide works. In the first six years of operation the battery produced 61,000 grams of gold with most of it coming from the goldfields near Oodlawirra and Dawson. Ore from across the state was still being sent to the Peterborough works in the 1980s. The cyanide plant was closed down in 1954. The gold battery is controlled by the National Trust, more as a museum piece, than a fully operating gold battery but it does still operate. It is the only gold battery in South Australia.

 

The Union Church which opened in 1879 was used by Methodists, Baptists and Presbyterians. A tin Wesleyan Church was opened in 1880, but a stone church was not finished until 1884. The Baptists opened their first church in Peterborough in 1883 and it was added to several times. Once the Wesleyans and Baptists had their own churches, the original Union Church was re-dedicated as the Anglican Church in 1884. The Anglicans later built a new church which was opened in 1888.Further additions and enhancements were carried out over the next thirty years. This church was in the Diocese of Willochra which was created in 1915 with bishops being enthroned in the Port Pirie or Port Augusta church. The first bishop in 1915 resided in Peterborough in rented premises for two years before moving to Gladstone. The Presbyterians did not establish regular services after the initial period of 1879, until 1900 when they began planning their own church. They held services in the Town Hall until their church was completed in 1903. The congregation was always small and the church closed in 1918, with the building being converted to a residence in 1922. The Lutherans in Petersburg started their first services in 1877. A church (St Peters) was built in 1885 and a Lutheran school started soon afterwards. Dwindling numbers forced the day school to close in 1912 but the government would have forced its closure during World War One anyway.

 

The Catholics in Peterborough built the first church, St Sebastian’s three miles outside of the town with the first priest arriving in 1884.( This church was later demolished.) In 1884 the first Catholic Church in the town was opened and dedicated to St Anacletus with an attached day school for seven pupils. Tenders were called for a new church in 1890 and the formal opening was held in 1892. This became one of the largest buildings in the town after extensive additions in 1916 as it was then the Pro-Cathedral for the Diocese of Port Augusta. Nearby the convent school was opened in 1923 and still operates. In 1912 work started on a two storey Bishop’s Residence, designed by Bishop Norton himself. The massive stone residence of fourteen rooms, complete with new electric light from a private generator was finished in 1913. It had extensive stables, out buildings and a large surrounding stonewall. Peterborough was to be the focal point of the diocese of Port Augusta. Bishops resided in the house until 1952 when the diocese was changed to the diocese of Port Pirie and the Bishop’s Residence was shifted to Port Pirie as was the cathedral. Bishop’s Palace is now known as St Cecilia’s and operated as a private bed and breakfast establishment where you can sleep in Mother Superior’s Room or the Bishop’s room!

 

 

Peterborough Primary School. Baptist Church 1883 and Art Deco hall 1913.

 

*Historical Walk in Peterborough. *

Start at the Railway Carriage Information Centre. Walk westwards along the Main Street for three blocks and turn right into Meadows Street and turn right again into Kitchener Street which is parallel to Main Street. Walk back FOUR blocks and turn right into Edith Street and return to the Main Street and the Railway Carriage Info Centre.

1. YMCA Building. The building was in high demand as accommodation for single men working at the adjacent railway station. It was built in Art Deco style and opened in the 1920s.

2. Town Hall. This second Town hall opened in 1927.It is the largest town hall in rural SA with seating for 1,200.The stone used for its construction is local from the golf course area. It is a fine Art Deco building with a Federation Quilt in the foyer and other memorabilia relating to Australian Federation.

3. Old Town Hall. This once grand classical style building with gaudy colours was built in 1884 as the town Institute. The Town Council took it over in 1889 and redesignated this as the Town Hall in 1894. It was used until the current Town hall opened in 1927. It has been a private residence since.

4. Memorial Grove next to Post Office. The Post office was erected in 1909 but the town had a previous Post Office from its inception.

5. Peterborough Hotel. It opened as the Petersburg Hotel in 1880 being one of the first buildings in the town. It was extensively altered in 1928 to current appearance.

6. Railway Hotel. This hotel opened in 1891 with Thomas Sabine as the licensee. It has a prime location opposite the railway station and is distinctive with its corner cupola.

7. Capitol Theatre (now a coffee shop). Turn right here into Meadows Street. The theatre was built in 1926 and closed in 1976. Silent movies had been shown in the old Town Hall from 1911 but they were moved to here in 1926.

8. Salvation Army Hall. The Army was active in Peterborough from 1892 and met in a hall until they had their own hall built. The date of the building is marked on the façade - 1911.

9. Former Baptist Church and Hall now a museum. Baptists used the town Union Chapel in the first few years. In 1883 they withdrew from the Union Chapel and had their own church built. The transept was added in 1893. In 1913 they added a stunning Art Deco church hall with rounded key hole windows which is now upmarket accommodation. The church itself is a fine car and historical items museum.

10. Courthouse and Police Station (Jervois St.) This attractive Courthouse and police station was opened in 1893. The stables and prison cells are at the rear. The Courtroom itself is well ventilated with roof vents. The Police Station section was extended in 1926. It is one of the few buildings in Peterborough on the Register of the National Estate.

11. Former Printing Office and Savings Bank. The first edition of the local Petersburg newspaper was produced in 1887. In 1891 the newspaper purchased this site and this fine classical pediment fronted building erected. It re-opened in 1908 as the Savings Bank of South Australia which had operated an agency at the Post Office from 1883. It closed as a bank in 1967 and is now a private residence.

12. Anglican Rectory and Church. The first Anglican services were held in 1884 in a schoolroom and later rented premises and then the Town Hall. The present church was started in 1887 and dedicated in January 1888. The parish hall was built in 1904. In 1915 this church became part of the new Anglican diocese of Willochra. The fine rectory was built at the same time as the church and was occupied from 1888. Note the Gothic windows.

13. Former Wesleyan Methodist Church now Uniting. Now turn right here into Edith Street. A Union chapel was built in the western end of town for the Methodists, Baptists and Presbyterians. In 1880 the Methodists withdrew and built their own Wesleyan church. It was later sold to the Catholics in 1886 and became the Catholic Church until their new Catholic church was built in 1890 and the former Wesleyan church became St. Anacletus hall. In 1884 the Methodists built a second Wesleyan Church which is the current church still in use as the Uniting church.

14. General Store. A good example of the many late 19th century and early 20th century stores which were built along the main street when Peterborough was still growing and booming.

15. Federal Hotel. The Federal Hotel opposite the General Store was built in 1898 when the Federation movement was at its peak. Additions have been made to it over the years.

 

Done