Tantanoola. Wheel chair path in the stalagmite and stalagtite caves of Tantanoola.
Tantanoola/Lucieton and its caves.
The town of Lucieton was gazetted by the government in 1879 partly because it was on the new railway from Mt Gambier to Beachport. Almost straight away the government authorised expenditure on a goods shed for the railway in 1880. Tenders for the wooden railway station at Lucieton were called for in 1880 and accepted. The first timber and iron Institute was erected in 1880 and used for the Lucieton School until a government school was built in 1886. Tenders were called for that new stone school and residence in 1884 for a cost of £1,000. The Railway Hotel at Lucieton was built circa 1879 and legally licensed in 1883. Although locals called the town Tantanoola the government persisted with Lucieton School, railway station etc. In May 1888 the government announced that new land sales in Lucieton would now be Tantanoola. This happened officially on Friday 5 October 1888. Tantanoola was an Aboriginal word meaning “boxwood hill.”
Tantanoola was known for more than just the Tantanoola Tiger. It held its first agricultural show from 1888; it had one of the first cheese factories in SA when it opened in 1886; its railway station and goods shed are some of the oldest railway buildings in the South East; it got its own district Council in 1888 which operated through to 1960. The old Council offices are now the current Post Office. Tantanoola also had tourism and visitors to its caves from the early 20th century and a series of conjoined buildings in the town were once the Up and Down Rocks Hotel. It was only licensed for a few years in the 1880s but its name referrers no doubt to rocks and caves of the district. Like most towns churches were important. Services were first held in the old Institute until St Andrews Presbyterian church was built in 1897 followed by the Methodist Church in 1907 and the grand St Clare’s Catholic Church in 1909. The old timber and iron institute was demolished in 1910 when the new Institute opened. A new façade was added to that hall after World War One in 1923 when it became the Memorial Hall. Sadly the Tantanoola school has had its ups and down. Additional classroom were added in 1926 but as student numbers declined the school finally closed in December 2020.
Tantanoola. Wheel chair path in the stalagmite and stalagtite caves of Tantanoola.
Tantanoola/Lucieton and its caves.
The town of Lucieton was gazetted by the government in 1879 partly because it was on the new railway from Mt Gambier to Beachport. Almost straight away the government authorised expenditure on a goods shed for the railway in 1880. Tenders for the wooden railway station at Lucieton were called for in 1880 and accepted. The first timber and iron Institute was erected in 1880 and used for the Lucieton School until a government school was built in 1886. Tenders were called for that new stone school and residence in 1884 for a cost of £1,000. The Railway Hotel at Lucieton was built circa 1879 and legally licensed in 1883. Although locals called the town Tantanoola the government persisted with Lucieton School, railway station etc. In May 1888 the government announced that new land sales in Lucieton would now be Tantanoola. This happened officially on Friday 5 October 1888. Tantanoola was an Aboriginal word meaning “boxwood hill.”
Tantanoola was known for more than just the Tantanoola Tiger. It held its first agricultural show from 1888; it had one of the first cheese factories in SA when it opened in 1886; its railway station and goods shed are some of the oldest railway buildings in the South East; it got its own district Council in 1888 which operated through to 1960. The old Council offices are now the current Post Office. Tantanoola also had tourism and visitors to its caves from the early 20th century and a series of conjoined buildings in the town were once the Up and Down Rocks Hotel. It was only licensed for a few years in the 1880s but its name referrers no doubt to rocks and caves of the district. Like most towns churches were important. Services were first held in the old Institute until St Andrews Presbyterian church was built in 1897 followed by the Methodist Church in 1907 and the grand St Clare’s Catholic Church in 1909. The old timber and iron institute was demolished in 1910 when the new Institute opened. A new façade was added to that hall after World War One in 1923 when it became the Memorial Hall. Sadly the Tantanoola school has had its ups and down. Additional classroom were added in 1926 but as student numbers declined the school finally closed in December 2020.