Peake. SA. The current Baptist Church was built in 1908 as a bake house and hotel. It was never licensed. Became a shop then in 1922 it became a Baptist Church.. .
The Murray Mallee.
The Murray Mallee, east of the river towards the Victorian border was the last major area of land surveyed and subdivided for agriculture in SA. Like the Eyre Peninsula much of the Murray Mallee was opened up once the railways were built there between 1907-27. The settlement of the Murray Mallee was assisted by the use of superphosphate fertiliser which made the land more useful than first thought. The lower half of the Murray Mallee in a line across to Lameroo is assisted by adequate rainfall, but this falsl away sharply north of this line. The sandy soils proved to be more than suitable for grains provided the meagre rainfall fell at the right time of the year. Life in the Murray Mallee was always tough and conditions harsh. But the farmers were able to eke a living from their crops and from the sale of their Mallee roots for firewood in Adelaide. Eudunda Farmers’ Cooperative was consequently very important to the development of the Murray Mallee as farmers sold Mallee roots and eggs and purchased supplies and superphosphate. Eudunda Farmers branches were founded in Lameroo (1907); Geranium (1908); Parrakie (1909); Pinnaroo (1909); and Parilla (1911).
In the Murray Mallee hopeful graziers staked out their claims to leasehold land in the late 19th century. Most attempts at pastoralism failed. Surveyor General George Goyder examined the area in 1893 (at age 67 years) on a horse back expedition. Although half the region was below his Goyder’s Line he found that 30% of the land was suitable for agricultural development but that the Mallee must be left on the tops of sandy ridges to stop erosion. He estimated 200,000 acres were suitable for cereal crops. Later in 1893 a group of state politicians, all travelling on horseback and camping in tents visited the Lameroo Plains. They were not going to rely on “experts” they were going to assess the country themselves and make their own decisions about opening the region to settlement. Alas no such politicians exist these days! Parliament made a decision to open up the Murray Mallee but actual settlement did not follow for another decade. The SA government passed the Pinnaroo Railway Act in 1893 but nothing happened with regard to its construction. A new act of parliament in 1903 authorised expenditure for a railway from Tailem Bend to Pinnaroo. It was to be a cheap line - second hand light rails and little ballast under the rails. 100,000 acres of land was to be developed along the railway line. The line was finished in 1906 and the first settlers began to arrive from 1904. The government was counting on the sale of Lameroo-Pinnaroo land to fund the railway construction, a novel approach to settlement in SA. Normally railways followed the settlers, not the other way round. Then in 1914 the railways built an almost parallel line to Peebinga which was known as the “railway line to nowhere.” The two railways in this area not only transported grain but they carried oaten hay back to Adelaide for the large number of horses still housed there in the 1920s and supplies of Mallee roots for the cold Adelaide winters.
Peake. District population 104.
The Hundred of Peake was declared in 1906 and named after a Labour South Australian Premier. All the Hundreds (a survey district of 100 square miles) along this rail route were named after a state premier, or leading politician - e.g. Price, Peake, Cotton and Bews (the politician who got water to Moonta etc. He was Commissioner of Public Works 1885-91). The small town of Peake was named after a liberal, rather than conservative SA premier, Archibald Peake (1912-15) who reduced public debt and brought the budget into surplus. He entered parliament in 1909. He had acted briefly as Premier in previous years because of his alliance with the Labor Party. He brought in 6 o’clock closing for hotels and had many spur railways built. This area around Peake was originally part of John Whyte’s Moorlands leasehold station. (His city mansion was at Fulham.) Although the train line to Pinnaroo passed through here in 1906 it took some years for local farmers to get a small railway siding and town. The township of Peake was proclaimed on 8th August 1907. Its claim to fame was that it had limestone suitable for mining. Limestone rock was mined here, crushed and used for the building of Murray Mallee roads. Near the railway liner is a well from the pastoral era, Polly’s Well sunk in 1877. It is next to the War Memorial and some town information boards. There are several other interesting buildings in the town. A corner site building was erected as a possible hotel although it was never licensed. An application was made in September 1908 for a license for the proposed hotel at Peake. Mr E. Moore the builder of the premises stated that it was built as a bakehouse. The building subsequently became a store. On 25th August 1922 it was acquired by the Baptist Church. It was then used as a church and manse. The building has been altered over the years. Next to it is the old saddlery estabsliehd by Harold Porter in 1912. The town has an old Post Office and residence built in 1912. The first school opened on 25th January 1909. There were eight male and seven female pupils. When the Peake Institute opened in 1913 it moved into that building. The new government school room was built in 1929. The school closed when the pupils were transferred to Geranium Area School in 1965. Like most small towns the stone Institute was an early structure. It opened in September 1913 and was used as such until 1961 when the more modern hall opened on the main road. The original hall is now a private residence. The station master’s house by the railway line was erected in 1912 but it is now dilapidated.
Peake. SA. The current Baptist Church was built in 1908 as a bake house and hotel. It was never licensed. Became a shop then in 1922 it became a Baptist Church.. .
The Murray Mallee.
The Murray Mallee, east of the river towards the Victorian border was the last major area of land surveyed and subdivided for agriculture in SA. Like the Eyre Peninsula much of the Murray Mallee was opened up once the railways were built there between 1907-27. The settlement of the Murray Mallee was assisted by the use of superphosphate fertiliser which made the land more useful than first thought. The lower half of the Murray Mallee in a line across to Lameroo is assisted by adequate rainfall, but this falsl away sharply north of this line. The sandy soils proved to be more than suitable for grains provided the meagre rainfall fell at the right time of the year. Life in the Murray Mallee was always tough and conditions harsh. But the farmers were able to eke a living from their crops and from the sale of their Mallee roots for firewood in Adelaide. Eudunda Farmers’ Cooperative was consequently very important to the development of the Murray Mallee as farmers sold Mallee roots and eggs and purchased supplies and superphosphate. Eudunda Farmers branches were founded in Lameroo (1907); Geranium (1908); Parrakie (1909); Pinnaroo (1909); and Parilla (1911).
In the Murray Mallee hopeful graziers staked out their claims to leasehold land in the late 19th century. Most attempts at pastoralism failed. Surveyor General George Goyder examined the area in 1893 (at age 67 years) on a horse back expedition. Although half the region was below his Goyder’s Line he found that 30% of the land was suitable for agricultural development but that the Mallee must be left on the tops of sandy ridges to stop erosion. He estimated 200,000 acres were suitable for cereal crops. Later in 1893 a group of state politicians, all travelling on horseback and camping in tents visited the Lameroo Plains. They were not going to rely on “experts” they were going to assess the country themselves and make their own decisions about opening the region to settlement. Alas no such politicians exist these days! Parliament made a decision to open up the Murray Mallee but actual settlement did not follow for another decade. The SA government passed the Pinnaroo Railway Act in 1893 but nothing happened with regard to its construction. A new act of parliament in 1903 authorised expenditure for a railway from Tailem Bend to Pinnaroo. It was to be a cheap line - second hand light rails and little ballast under the rails. 100,000 acres of land was to be developed along the railway line. The line was finished in 1906 and the first settlers began to arrive from 1904. The government was counting on the sale of Lameroo-Pinnaroo land to fund the railway construction, a novel approach to settlement in SA. Normally railways followed the settlers, not the other way round. Then in 1914 the railways built an almost parallel line to Peebinga which was known as the “railway line to nowhere.” The two railways in this area not only transported grain but they carried oaten hay back to Adelaide for the large number of horses still housed there in the 1920s and supplies of Mallee roots for the cold Adelaide winters.
Peake. District population 104.
The Hundred of Peake was declared in 1906 and named after a Labour South Australian Premier. All the Hundreds (a survey district of 100 square miles) along this rail route were named after a state premier, or leading politician - e.g. Price, Peake, Cotton and Bews (the politician who got water to Moonta etc. He was Commissioner of Public Works 1885-91). The small town of Peake was named after a liberal, rather than conservative SA premier, Archibald Peake (1912-15) who reduced public debt and brought the budget into surplus. He entered parliament in 1909. He had acted briefly as Premier in previous years because of his alliance with the Labor Party. He brought in 6 o’clock closing for hotels and had many spur railways built. This area around Peake was originally part of John Whyte’s Moorlands leasehold station. (His city mansion was at Fulham.) Although the train line to Pinnaroo passed through here in 1906 it took some years for local farmers to get a small railway siding and town. The township of Peake was proclaimed on 8th August 1907. Its claim to fame was that it had limestone suitable for mining. Limestone rock was mined here, crushed and used for the building of Murray Mallee roads. Near the railway liner is a well from the pastoral era, Polly’s Well sunk in 1877. It is next to the War Memorial and some town information boards. There are several other interesting buildings in the town. A corner site building was erected as a possible hotel although it was never licensed. An application was made in September 1908 for a license for the proposed hotel at Peake. Mr E. Moore the builder of the premises stated that it was built as a bakehouse. The building subsequently became a store. On 25th August 1922 it was acquired by the Baptist Church. It was then used as a church and manse. The building has been altered over the years. Next to it is the old saddlery estabsliehd by Harold Porter in 1912. The town has an old Post Office and residence built in 1912. The first school opened on 25th January 1909. There were eight male and seven female pupils. When the Peake Institute opened in 1913 it moved into that building. The new government school room was built in 1929. The school closed when the pupils were transferred to Geranium Area School in 1965. Like most small towns the stone Institute was an early structure. It opened in September 1913 and was used as such until 1961 when the more modern hall opened on the main road. The original hall is now a private residence. The station master’s house by the railway line was erected in 1912 but it is now dilapidated.