Caltowie. The Caltowie Hotel was built in 1873. The upper floor with Art Deco features was added in the early 20th century.

Caltowie.

The Hundred of Caltowie was declared in 1871 and open for farming settlement and the town of Caltowie surveyed in 1871 making it the oldest town after Melrose on this Willochra Plains weekend tour. The railway from Port Pirie/Gladstone was extended to Jamestown in 1878 and Caltowie had a railway siding from then. As the nearest railhead for the areas to the north which were opened up in the 1870s the town’s prospects were good, but they failed to materialise. Because of the wheat crops a flourmill was erected in Caltowie in 1881. Tenders for its construction were called in 1880 and by 1881 the flourmill was available for rent in 1881. No takers came forward and so after a public meeting in the Caltowie Institute the Caltowie Steam Flourmill Company was formed. Many local farmers bought shares for £5 each. The flourmill had a rail siding and so was expected to do well. The Company renewed the lease in 1884 but profits did not materialise and it was put up for sale in 1892 and 1893. The mill was eventually sold to James Both in 1894 and shareholders received about 10 shillings a share, having to pocket a £4.50 loss per share. James Both ran the mill well into the 1920s. Both called it the Roller Flour Mills. The mill was struck by lightning in 1927 but suffered little damage and it finally closed in 1947. James Both's son Edward Both invented a cheap plywood iron lung at the height of the polio epidemic in Australia in 1938. It sold for £100 unlike the metal American respirator which cost £2000 in Australia. Both's iron lung was sold in England, Australia and eventually America. Both was a professor of Physics at the University of Adelaide. He also worked on electrocardiograms and humidicribs for premature babies. The flourmill is now all demolished except for one office building. Caltowie was the biggest SA grain intake spot hence the survival of the flourmill till 1947.

 

The extant significant buildings in Caltowie include the Commercial Hotel which was first licensed in March 1873 and built as a single storey building. The upper floor date from around 1900 with Edwardian features. The town had a government school from 1876 with a dedicated schoolroom being built in 1880. It is now a shabby residence. The first church in the district was the Wesleyan Methodist which opened early in 1873. Three years later in 1876 it was sold to the Lutherans. This Lutheran Church became the first government school in Caltowie from 1876 until a government school was built in 1880. The last Lutheran service was held in 1981 before the building was sold for a home. The Caltowie Hall opened in 1880 and it has a 1926 Soldiers Memorial front section. Architecturally the most impressive building is the former National Australasian Bank built in 1876 by city architect Daniel Garlick. It became a Bank of Adelaide by 1909 and is now a beautiful residence. Beyond the encircling parklands is the Catholic Church sector. The original rustic St Killian’s Catholic Church was built here by the Jesuits of Seven Hills in 1875. A second church opened in 1885 replacing this early one. It was demolished in 1982 and the stained glass windows were purchased by the Robin Hood Hotel at Norwood. The Sisters of St Joseph ran their convent school in the original Catholic Church (1875) from 1887 until 1962. Before that time they ran the school in other buildings from 1876 to 1887. Part of the Convent School still remains as a private residence. So until the 1960s Caltowie had enough students for a small state and a Catholic school.

 

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