The Old Dawson Hotel (Dawson, South Australia's Mid North)
The Dawson Hotel was built in 1883 with a Joseph Richardson registered as its first licence publican. The hotel closed in 1961 with the general decline of the township.
Dawson, South Australia:
The ghost town of Dawson, named after Henry Dawson, the first mail contractor from Burra to Outalpa, is located 23 kilometers north east of Peterborough in the Hundred of Coglin. The area was opened up for agricultural use in 1880, the Hundred being proclaimed in 1878. The first land sale occurred shortly after and some 30 individuals bought land in the Hundred with the undoubted intention of developing wheat farms.
The town of Dawson was also created at the same time, with 360 allotments laid out in a grid pattern that were first offered for sale in June 1881. Some 14 individuals bought land in the township. Dawson and the surrounding lands lie beyond Goyder's Line. It is marginal agricultural land and the years after settlement were not kind to the farmers.
The farms and hence the town did not thrive. The later years of the nineteenth century after the sale of the Hundred of Coglin were difficult years where drought conditions were experienced. The land simply could not be used to grow crops and with the failure of the farms, the township also declined.
The creation of the Hundred, its presumed use as agricultural land and the subdivision of the township of Dawson illustrate the optimistic mood that surrounded the expansion of the northern agricultural frontier in South Australia during this period.
Source: Dawson Hall Incorp. (plaque at hotel) & Heritage Of the Upper North, Volume 6 - District Council of Peterborough, page 56.
The Old Dawson Hotel (Dawson, South Australia's Mid North)
The Dawson Hotel was built in 1883 with a Joseph Richardson registered as its first licence publican. The hotel closed in 1961 with the general decline of the township.
Dawson, South Australia:
The ghost town of Dawson, named after Henry Dawson, the first mail contractor from Burra to Outalpa, is located 23 kilometers north east of Peterborough in the Hundred of Coglin. The area was opened up for agricultural use in 1880, the Hundred being proclaimed in 1878. The first land sale occurred shortly after and some 30 individuals bought land in the Hundred with the undoubted intention of developing wheat farms.
The town of Dawson was also created at the same time, with 360 allotments laid out in a grid pattern that were first offered for sale in June 1881. Some 14 individuals bought land in the township. Dawson and the surrounding lands lie beyond Goyder's Line. It is marginal agricultural land and the years after settlement were not kind to the farmers.
The farms and hence the town did not thrive. The later years of the nineteenth century after the sale of the Hundred of Coglin were difficult years where drought conditions were experienced. The land simply could not be used to grow crops and with the failure of the farms, the township also declined.
The creation of the Hundred, its presumed use as agricultural land and the subdivision of the township of Dawson illustrate the optimistic mood that surrounded the expansion of the northern agricultural frontier in South Australia during this period.
Source: Dawson Hall Incorp. (plaque at hotel) & Heritage Of the Upper North, Volume 6 - District Council of Peterborough, page 56.