Snowtown. This butcher and bakery business began in 1889. This corner shop was added to the original shop in 1910. The original shop in the Victorian style shop next door just visible.
Snowtown.
Captain John Ellis leased the land where Snowtown now stands from the early 1840s. His Bumbunga and Barunga runs made him wealthy and covered around 100 square miles in 1860. He built a large 8 room stone house on Barunga Run in the Hummock Ranges near Lochiel. In the 1869 the Hummocks run was resumed by the government for survey and for closer settlement. When most of Hummocks run was resumed by the government the land was put up for public auction in the new Hundreds of Cameron and Barunga which were declared in 1869. Robert Barr Smith took up all the hilly section of the Hundred of Cameron as freehold land as he said it was not suitable for cropping. John Maslin took up other hilly section of the Hundred. Barr Smith took up more land in the Hundred of Barunga. Barr Smith and Maslin also purchased extensive sections of the flat cropping lands of The Hundred of Boucaut (named after a state Premier) when it was proclaimed in 1867 with land sales in 1872 and 1875. In 1886 the partnership between Maslin and Barr Smith dissolved and Barr Smith took it over. On his death in 1915 Hummocks station went to his son Tom Elder Barr Smith who in turn sold the Hummocks estate of almost 30,000 acres to the government. This boosted the town of Snowtown as more farmers moved into its surrounds. Most of the land was opened up for soldier settler farmers on blocks of 600 to 1,000 acres.
The town of Snowtown was established in 1878 being named after Mr. Thomas Snow, the secretary of the Governor of the day, Sir William Jervois. Jervois named many SA towns after his family and friends. The town site was selected to be located at the end of the railway being built from Kadina through Bute and Barunga Gap. The railway line reached Snowtown in 1879 providing a great stimulus to development. A flour mill was built almost immediately in Snowtown. The railway meant passengers could travel to Adelaide via Kadina and Port Wakefield. The town’s role as a transport hub was further strengthened when the railway was extended across the plains to the east, through the small settlement of Condowie to the newly created town of Brinkworth in 1894. Snowtown got a direct broad gauge connection from Adelaide in 1923 and this line terminated in Redhill. In 1937 it was extended to Port Pirie. Once this line was completed all interstate trains to Perth started using this new route. Snowtown then had several trains daily to and from Adelaide as well as a daily rail car service to Moonta and to Brinkworth. This rail car service to Moonta and to Brinkworth ceased in 1968. Passenger trains to Port Pirie ceased in the early 1980s after the SA government sold South Australian Railways to the Commonwealth Railways. They rationalised services by stopping all passenger services. Rail freight services had already almost ceased once the SA government passed an act in 1963 removing the necessity for freight to be carried by rail if a rail line existed in a town. The railway yards were always busy with bagged wheat being shipped to Wallaroo or Port Adelaide but in 1956 the first bulk handling silos were built in Snowtown. It was one of the first half dozen towns in SA equipped with silos.
In 1878 Snowtown grew quickly with the usual buildings of a government town – police station, post office and school. The community erected an institute library which opened in 1881 and the churches which were all quickly built- the Bible Christian 1880, the Anglican 1880, the first Catholic 1882, the first Methodist in 1909, and another community facility, the hospital was built in 1902. (The Lutherans of Snowtown worshiped at Condowie where a Lutheran Church had been built in 1878. A Lutheran Church was not built in Snowtown until 1966). Local businessmen established general stores, the flour mill, a saddlery, a hotel, a bakery, a boot maker, and an agricultural implement foundry. City firms established the banks. One more recent bank reached national infamy for being the site of gruesome murders. The government built a grand stone school in 1879. This became a Higher Primary School in in 1941 and then an Area School in 1961. It is in the suburban belt beyond the parklands belt. The population is now around 400. Like many SA towns it has a George Goyder designed grid plan surrounded by parklands and beyond that some suburban lands. Some of the government buildings like the school, the hospital and public facilities like the oval are in the so called parklands belt. The town centre is surrounded by North, South, East and West Terraces with a railway reserve in the middle of the town.
Snowtown has reliable and reasonable rainfall except in severe drought years. The agriculture of the area was further boosted after World War One when the last part of the Barr Smith Barunga Run was resumed by the state government. This covered all of the hilly parts of the ranges. Returning soldiers were given soldier settler blocks along the top of the ranges. Now these areas are the site of a major wind farm operation. One of the last death knolls for Snowtown as a busy town (but a blessing to many residents) was the opening of the Highway One bypass in 1976. Prior to that time all transport and traffic passed through the middle of the town. More recently the town has become a wind power generator. A New Zealand Company, Trust Power set up the wind farm in 2008. When all stages were finished there were 150 turbines along the Barunga Ranges.
Some historic buildings in Snowtown include:
1.The old butcher shop and bakery. It began in 1889 in a small shop. New section with classical pediment built 1910. The old classical style shops east of it were an early drapery store built in 1901.
2.The former English Scottish and Australia Bank with triple window in gable. Built 1893. Was an ANZ bank in the 1970s now a residence.
3.The town shops built in 1924. The site was used for the first flourmill built in 1879. It closed in 1911 and was demolished in 1923 for the shops.
4.The Institute Library was built on the corner in 1881 but demolished for the new War Memorial Hall façade in 1924. The Institute entrance was here and it opened in 1885. Presbyterian Church services 1886 and Lodge services etc were held here.
5.The Savings Bank of South Australia 1956. Built in ultra-modern style. Used for storing bodies in the barrel murders.
6.The Snowtown Hotel. Built in 1880 with two storeys. In 1913 extended lengths ways. Detour here to see the old bakery and go around the block.
7.The old bakery on the corner of High Street East. The low pug house behind the shop was built in 1890. The building in front on the street was built about 1900 as a Plymouth Brethren Church. It subsequently became a bakery.
8.Snowtown IGA and Post Office. This was branch 43 of Eudunda Farmers. Eudundas opened in 1939 in a former old general store built in 1902. This was modernised around 1960. The Eudundas store closed 1985.
9.The Police Station (was built in 1883) now replaced and next to it the old Post Office on the corner also built in 1883. The gable section was added around 1910.
10.The Independent Order of Oddfellows Hall. The Lodge was established in 1881 and the lodge building opened in 1910. Note the lack of windows.
11.The railway was built from Kadina to Barunga Gap in the Hummocks in 1879. The line was extended to Snowtown in 1880 and a fine old stone station as built that year. In 1923 the railway line was extended from Bowmans near Balaklava direct to Snowtown. Work then began on extending the line to Redhill and eventually Port Pirie (1937). The current railway station was built in 1945.
12.The red brick Catholic Church. The first Catholic Church opened in 1881. This structure was built in 1936.
13.The Uniting Church erected as a Methodist Church in 1909 on the site of Duffield’s flourmill. Methodist denominations had united in 1909 and the earlier Bible Christian Church erected in 1880 in Fourth Street was no longer adequate or needed.
Snowtown. This butcher and bakery business began in 1889. This corner shop was added to the original shop in 1910. The original shop in the Victorian style shop next door just visible.
Snowtown.
Captain John Ellis leased the land where Snowtown now stands from the early 1840s. His Bumbunga and Barunga runs made him wealthy and covered around 100 square miles in 1860. He built a large 8 room stone house on Barunga Run in the Hummock Ranges near Lochiel. In the 1869 the Hummocks run was resumed by the government for survey and for closer settlement. When most of Hummocks run was resumed by the government the land was put up for public auction in the new Hundreds of Cameron and Barunga which were declared in 1869. Robert Barr Smith took up all the hilly section of the Hundred of Cameron as freehold land as he said it was not suitable for cropping. John Maslin took up other hilly section of the Hundred. Barr Smith took up more land in the Hundred of Barunga. Barr Smith and Maslin also purchased extensive sections of the flat cropping lands of The Hundred of Boucaut (named after a state Premier) when it was proclaimed in 1867 with land sales in 1872 and 1875. In 1886 the partnership between Maslin and Barr Smith dissolved and Barr Smith took it over. On his death in 1915 Hummocks station went to his son Tom Elder Barr Smith who in turn sold the Hummocks estate of almost 30,000 acres to the government. This boosted the town of Snowtown as more farmers moved into its surrounds. Most of the land was opened up for soldier settler farmers on blocks of 600 to 1,000 acres.
The town of Snowtown was established in 1878 being named after Mr. Thomas Snow, the secretary of the Governor of the day, Sir William Jervois. Jervois named many SA towns after his family and friends. The town site was selected to be located at the end of the railway being built from Kadina through Bute and Barunga Gap. The railway line reached Snowtown in 1879 providing a great stimulus to development. A flour mill was built almost immediately in Snowtown. The railway meant passengers could travel to Adelaide via Kadina and Port Wakefield. The town’s role as a transport hub was further strengthened when the railway was extended across the plains to the east, through the small settlement of Condowie to the newly created town of Brinkworth in 1894. Snowtown got a direct broad gauge connection from Adelaide in 1923 and this line terminated in Redhill. In 1937 it was extended to Port Pirie. Once this line was completed all interstate trains to Perth started using this new route. Snowtown then had several trains daily to and from Adelaide as well as a daily rail car service to Moonta and to Brinkworth. This rail car service to Moonta and to Brinkworth ceased in 1968. Passenger trains to Port Pirie ceased in the early 1980s after the SA government sold South Australian Railways to the Commonwealth Railways. They rationalised services by stopping all passenger services. Rail freight services had already almost ceased once the SA government passed an act in 1963 removing the necessity for freight to be carried by rail if a rail line existed in a town. The railway yards were always busy with bagged wheat being shipped to Wallaroo or Port Adelaide but in 1956 the first bulk handling silos were built in Snowtown. It was one of the first half dozen towns in SA equipped with silos.
In 1878 Snowtown grew quickly with the usual buildings of a government town – police station, post office and school. The community erected an institute library which opened in 1881 and the churches which were all quickly built- the Bible Christian 1880, the Anglican 1880, the first Catholic 1882, the first Methodist in 1909, and another community facility, the hospital was built in 1902. (The Lutherans of Snowtown worshiped at Condowie where a Lutheran Church had been built in 1878. A Lutheran Church was not built in Snowtown until 1966). Local businessmen established general stores, the flour mill, a saddlery, a hotel, a bakery, a boot maker, and an agricultural implement foundry. City firms established the banks. One more recent bank reached national infamy for being the site of gruesome murders. The government built a grand stone school in 1879. This became a Higher Primary School in in 1941 and then an Area School in 1961. It is in the suburban belt beyond the parklands belt. The population is now around 400. Like many SA towns it has a George Goyder designed grid plan surrounded by parklands and beyond that some suburban lands. Some of the government buildings like the school, the hospital and public facilities like the oval are in the so called parklands belt. The town centre is surrounded by North, South, East and West Terraces with a railway reserve in the middle of the town.
Snowtown has reliable and reasonable rainfall except in severe drought years. The agriculture of the area was further boosted after World War One when the last part of the Barr Smith Barunga Run was resumed by the state government. This covered all of the hilly parts of the ranges. Returning soldiers were given soldier settler blocks along the top of the ranges. Now these areas are the site of a major wind farm operation. One of the last death knolls for Snowtown as a busy town (but a blessing to many residents) was the opening of the Highway One bypass in 1976. Prior to that time all transport and traffic passed through the middle of the town. More recently the town has become a wind power generator. A New Zealand Company, Trust Power set up the wind farm in 2008. When all stages were finished there were 150 turbines along the Barunga Ranges.
Some historic buildings in Snowtown include:
1.The old butcher shop and bakery. It began in 1889 in a small shop. New section with classical pediment built 1910. The old classical style shops east of it were an early drapery store built in 1901.
2.The former English Scottish and Australia Bank with triple window in gable. Built 1893. Was an ANZ bank in the 1970s now a residence.
3.The town shops built in 1924. The site was used for the first flourmill built in 1879. It closed in 1911 and was demolished in 1923 for the shops.
4.The Institute Library was built on the corner in 1881 but demolished for the new War Memorial Hall façade in 1924. The Institute entrance was here and it opened in 1885. Presbyterian Church services 1886 and Lodge services etc were held here.
5.The Savings Bank of South Australia 1956. Built in ultra-modern style. Used for storing bodies in the barrel murders.
6.The Snowtown Hotel. Built in 1880 with two storeys. In 1913 extended lengths ways. Detour here to see the old bakery and go around the block.
7.The old bakery on the corner of High Street East. The low pug house behind the shop was built in 1890. The building in front on the street was built about 1900 as a Plymouth Brethren Church. It subsequently became a bakery.
8.Snowtown IGA and Post Office. This was branch 43 of Eudunda Farmers. Eudundas opened in 1939 in a former old general store built in 1902. This was modernised around 1960. The Eudundas store closed 1985.
9.The Police Station (was built in 1883) now replaced and next to it the old Post Office on the corner also built in 1883. The gable section was added around 1910.
10.The Independent Order of Oddfellows Hall. The Lodge was established in 1881 and the lodge building opened in 1910. Note the lack of windows.
11.The railway was built from Kadina to Barunga Gap in the Hummocks in 1879. The line was extended to Snowtown in 1880 and a fine old stone station as built that year. In 1923 the railway line was extended from Bowmans near Balaklava direct to Snowtown. Work then began on extending the line to Redhill and eventually Port Pirie (1937). The current railway station was built in 1945.
12.The red brick Catholic Church. The first Catholic Church opened in 1881. This structure was built in 1936.
13.The Uniting Church erected as a Methodist Church in 1909 on the site of Duffield’s flourmill. Methodist denominations had united in 1909 and the earlier Bible Christian Church erected in 1880 in Fourth Street was no longer adequate or needed.