Daveyston. Former primary school. Opened 1868 as town school. It acquired the Lutheran Church next door in 1959 and demolished it in 1963 to make the school yard bigger. School closed in 1970. .
Daveyston.
The Hundred of Nuriootpa which extended to the Daveyston district was declared in 1847. The first land owner was Eduard Hempel who took up 399 acres in 1854 at a cost of £1,250 i.e. £3 per acre. Hempel then subdivided his 399 acres into five part sections. Soon after Benjamin Davey bought 99 acres in 1857 and he built a flourmill on it before the town was created. His land, bought from the government, was across Greenock Creek on the eastern side of Greenock Road. Because of his mill the later town was called Daveyston. His cousin Edwin Davey went on to erect flourmills in Angaston, Penrice, Eudunda, Truro, Salisbury and Adelaide. Benjamin Davey stayed in Daveyston and leased his flourmill to H Kruger in the 1860s but his son owned it until 1875 when he sold it to his cousin Edwin Davey for £500.The mill closed permanently in 1879 and the fittings were dismantled and moved to the Davey flourmill at Eudunda. No town was ever formally surveyed but Hempel sold off lots of land along the creek. Hempel donated one plot in 1867 for a town school and the adjoining lot for the Lutheran Church. In the early days of settlement the Ngadjuri Aboriginal people used to camp along the creek by this land. They were known for being friendly and passive towards the white settlers. This land was gazetted as a government water reserve and the creek was dammed to provide water for bullock teams and the flourmill.
The town began with the Davey flourmill and the licensing of the Old Nain Hotel by Matthias Dienhoff also in 1857. The next development was a road to Freeling in 1863 as the railway from Adelaide to Kapunda had reached there in 1860 and an unofficial Post Office was established in 1863. The telegraph line from Adelaide to Blanchetown and on to NSW passed through Daveyston in 1864. A town school was built in stone in 1867 and opened in January 1868 with 35 children and Mr Forbitzky as the teacher. Eventually it became a state government school after 1875 and it closed in 1970. From the late 1850s Daveyston had Thomas Martin as the blacksmith followed by Charles to 1879. Others ran the blacksmith through to the 1920s. In 1872 the Matthias Dienhoff converted the Old Nain Hotel into a residence as a “new” Nain Hotel was erected nearby just north of the school with a parapet roof line. It was here that the Nuriootpa District Council rented a room for the Council. The red brick hotel was de-licensed in 1911 and operated as a temperance hotel. It closed in 1914 and became a private house and still stands in the town. The German farmers and residents applied to use the school room for their church services in 1870 but they soon erected their own stone church next to the school in 1878. Earlier Lutheran services were conducted in private homes from the late 1850s by Dr Muecke. The church closed in 1959 when it was purchased by the Education Department to add to the school grounds. But sadly it was demolished in 1963 to provide more school yard for the town. The first general store keeper in Daveyston was Duve von Julius. The town had the Nuriootpa District Council offices too from 1867. The first meetings were held in the Old Nain Hotel and a room was rented there as the Council Office until around 1880. A small Council office was built after 1880. The Council offices closed in 1909 although the Council had moved earlier to Freeling in 1905. For most of the period from 1864 to 1904 Daveyston had a resident book maker and shop. The first semi-official Post Office in Daveyston opened in 1917. But from 1930 the service was downgraded. Mail was delivered to a tiny galvanised iron shed adjacent to the general store thereafter until 1974. The tiny settlement is now bypassed by the main highway.
Daveyston. Former primary school. Opened 1868 as town school. It acquired the Lutheran Church next door in 1959 and demolished it in 1963 to make the school yard bigger. School closed in 1970. .
Daveyston.
The Hundred of Nuriootpa which extended to the Daveyston district was declared in 1847. The first land owner was Eduard Hempel who took up 399 acres in 1854 at a cost of £1,250 i.e. £3 per acre. Hempel then subdivided his 399 acres into five part sections. Soon after Benjamin Davey bought 99 acres in 1857 and he built a flourmill on it before the town was created. His land, bought from the government, was across Greenock Creek on the eastern side of Greenock Road. Because of his mill the later town was called Daveyston. His cousin Edwin Davey went on to erect flourmills in Angaston, Penrice, Eudunda, Truro, Salisbury and Adelaide. Benjamin Davey stayed in Daveyston and leased his flourmill to H Kruger in the 1860s but his son owned it until 1875 when he sold it to his cousin Edwin Davey for £500.The mill closed permanently in 1879 and the fittings were dismantled and moved to the Davey flourmill at Eudunda. No town was ever formally surveyed but Hempel sold off lots of land along the creek. Hempel donated one plot in 1867 for a town school and the adjoining lot for the Lutheran Church. In the early days of settlement the Ngadjuri Aboriginal people used to camp along the creek by this land. They were known for being friendly and passive towards the white settlers. This land was gazetted as a government water reserve and the creek was dammed to provide water for bullock teams and the flourmill.
The town began with the Davey flourmill and the licensing of the Old Nain Hotel by Matthias Dienhoff also in 1857. The next development was a road to Freeling in 1863 as the railway from Adelaide to Kapunda had reached there in 1860 and an unofficial Post Office was established in 1863. The telegraph line from Adelaide to Blanchetown and on to NSW passed through Daveyston in 1864. A town school was built in stone in 1867 and opened in January 1868 with 35 children and Mr Forbitzky as the teacher. Eventually it became a state government school after 1875 and it closed in 1970. From the late 1850s Daveyston had Thomas Martin as the blacksmith followed by Charles to 1879. Others ran the blacksmith through to the 1920s. In 1872 the Matthias Dienhoff converted the Old Nain Hotel into a residence as a “new” Nain Hotel was erected nearby just north of the school with a parapet roof line. It was here that the Nuriootpa District Council rented a room for the Council. The red brick hotel was de-licensed in 1911 and operated as a temperance hotel. It closed in 1914 and became a private house and still stands in the town. The German farmers and residents applied to use the school room for their church services in 1870 but they soon erected their own stone church next to the school in 1878. Earlier Lutheran services were conducted in private homes from the late 1850s by Dr Muecke. The church closed in 1959 when it was purchased by the Education Department to add to the school grounds. But sadly it was demolished in 1963 to provide more school yard for the town. The first general store keeper in Daveyston was Duve von Julius. The town had the Nuriootpa District Council offices too from 1867. The first meetings were held in the Old Nain Hotel and a room was rented there as the Council Office until around 1880. A small Council office was built after 1880. The Council offices closed in 1909 although the Council had moved earlier to Freeling in 1905. For most of the period from 1864 to 1904 Daveyston had a resident book maker and shop. The first semi-official Post Office in Daveyston opened in 1917. But from 1930 the service was downgraded. Mail was delivered to a tiny galvanised iron shed adjacent to the general store thereafter until 1974. The tiny settlement is now bypassed by the main highway.