Lochiel. Lake Bumbunga turns pink in the summer and salt can be harvested in the autumn. The indsutry began in the 1880s but it no longer operates.
Lochiel.
Captain John Ellis leased the land from Lochiel to Snowtown 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 just west of Snowtown near a spring. There was also a major homestead at Bumbunga just north of Lochiel facing Lake Bumbunga. In the 1869 the Hummocks and Bumbunga runs were resumed by the government for survey and for closer settlement. When most of the runs were 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. His partner John Maslin took up other hilly section of the Hundred. They took up more land in the Hundred of Barunga. In 1886 the partnership between Maslin and Barr Smith dissolved and Barr Smith took it over the Hummocks Station. 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 for closer settlement. This boosted the town of Lochiel but it mainly depended on servicing farming needs and the salt industry of Lake Bumbunga.
The first salt harvesting began in the late 1880s at the northern end of Lake Bumbunga and it was this industry which kept Lochiel alive. Cave and Co took out the salt work lease from 1900. Salt was carted by drays to Snowtown, and then railed away to the port of Wallaroo. Then the Australian Salt Company started works on the southern end of Lake Bumbunga in 1913. Because the 1925 new broad gauge line to Redhill did not pass through Lochiel, a small branch line was built to Lochiel from Bumbunga to service the salt works. This 4½ mile line opened in 1926. The salt works continued and boomed in the 1930s and during World War Two when the harvesting was mechanized (horses dragged scrapping equipment before this time.) In the 1950s the Australia Salt Works Company built three new houses in Lochiel making a total of nine company houses in the town. By the late 1960s only six men were employed in the salt works. The railway line continued in service until closure in 1981 as by then the salt works had finally closed down.
Lochiel. Lake Bumbunga turns pink in the summer and salt can be harvested in the autumn. The indsutry began in the 1880s but it no longer operates.
Lochiel.
Captain John Ellis leased the land from Lochiel to Snowtown 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 just west of Snowtown near a spring. There was also a major homestead at Bumbunga just north of Lochiel facing Lake Bumbunga. In the 1869 the Hummocks and Bumbunga runs were resumed by the government for survey and for closer settlement. When most of the runs were 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. His partner John Maslin took up other hilly section of the Hundred. They took up more land in the Hundred of Barunga. In 1886 the partnership between Maslin and Barr Smith dissolved and Barr Smith took it over the Hummocks Station. 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 for closer settlement. This boosted the town of Lochiel but it mainly depended on servicing farming needs and the salt industry of Lake Bumbunga.
The first salt harvesting began in the late 1880s at the northern end of Lake Bumbunga and it was this industry which kept Lochiel alive. Cave and Co took out the salt work lease from 1900. Salt was carted by drays to Snowtown, and then railed away to the port of Wallaroo. Then the Australian Salt Company started works on the southern end of Lake Bumbunga in 1913. Because the 1925 new broad gauge line to Redhill did not pass through Lochiel, a small branch line was built to Lochiel from Bumbunga to service the salt works. This 4½ mile line opened in 1926. The salt works continued and boomed in the 1930s and during World War Two when the harvesting was mechanized (horses dragged scrapping equipment before this time.) In the 1950s the Australia Salt Works Company built three new houses in Lochiel making a total of nine company houses in the town. By the late 1960s only six men were employed in the salt works. The railway line continued in service until closure in 1981 as by then the salt works had finally closed down.